Must Haves. Music Edition. Destiny's Child.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

Destiny's Child rose to prominence in the late 1990s as one of the most successful female R&B groups, rivaling even TLC in terms of commercial success. Despite repeated abrupt personnel changes, which were accompanied by heated, well-publicized feuds in the media and the courts, they were able to achieve their goals. For a time, Destiny's Child was known as much for their drama as for their music. However, once the group had regained its equilibrium, they were able to produce even more hits than before. Destiny's Child was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1990, when original members Beyoncé Knowles and LaTavia Roberson were just nine years old; the two met at an audition and became friends, and Knowles' father Mathew began developing an act based on their singing and rapping, naming the group after a passage in the Book of Isaiah. Kelendria "Kelly" Rowland, Beyoncé's cousin, joined the group in 1992. When LeToya Luckett joined in 1993, the quartet's roster was complete (for the time being), and they spent the next few years working their way up from the Houston club scene, eventually opening for SWV, Dru Hill, and Immature. Columbia finally granted Destiny's Child a recording contract in 1997.

MEMBERS. Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LaTavia Roberson, LeToya Luckett, Farrah Franklin

GENRE R&B

ALBUMS. Destiny's Child, , The Writing's on the Wall, Survivor, Destiny Fullfilled.

HIT SONGS. Bootylicious, Say My Name, Survivor, Emotion, Independent Women, Pt. 1, Jumpin' Jumpin', Bug a Boo, Bills, Bills, Bills

CULTURAL IMPACT

These women changed R&B forever, While feminism has developed a web of threads over the last ten years, R&B around the turn of the century was all about third-wave feminist ideas centered on uber-capitalist power and not relying on no man. "All the women who are independent, put your hands up at me / all the honeys who make' money, throw your hands up at me," Destiny's Child sings in her song "Independent Women."

Putting aside the fact that it may promote heteronormative ideals – and that it served as the main music for Charlie's Angels - the song remains a rallying cry for female strength, vocal boldness, and reducing the gender wage gap.