50 Fun Facts About Destiny's Child

In which US city was Destiny's Child formed in 1990?

Houston. The girls tried out routines at Beyoncé's mother's hair salon there, and her father quit his job selling medical equipment to manage them.

Under what name did the future Destiny's Child first start performing?

Girl's Tyme. Beyoncé opened her 2013 song "Flawless" with a clip of a television host introducing the girls under that name.

Which national TV talent show did the future Destiny's Child lose in the early 1990s?

Star Search. The girls broke down in tears offstage, and the defeat led Beyoncé's father, Mathew Knowles, to step in as their manager and rebuild the lineup.

How did the future Destiny's Child perform on the TV talent show they lost in the early 1990s?

They rapped instead of singing. Beyoncé later admitted the song they did was not good, and the group went on to make its name with sung three-part harmonies.

At which 2018 festival did Destiny's Child reunite during Beyoncé's headline set?

Coachella. Her two bandmates joined her for a three-song medley reworked for a marching band, and the set was later released as the film Homecoming.

The name Destiny's Child was taken from a passage in which book of the Bible?

Isaiah. Beyoncé's mother picked the word "destiny" out of the Bible, but the name could not be trademarked on its own, so "child" was added.

Kandi Burruss, who co-wrote five songs on Destiny's Child's second album, had co-written which TLC hit months earlier?

No Scrubs. She brought Destiny's Child a song on the same theme, a boyfriend who lives off his girlfriend's money, and has said it was based on an ex of her own.

Destiny's Child's first major-label song, "Killing Time", appeared on the soundtrack of which 1997 film?

Men in Black. The blockbuster's soundtrack topped the US album chart, putting the unknown quartet on a hit record months before they released a single of their own.

What was Destiny's Child's debut single, released in late 1997?

No, No, No. It was recorded as a slow ballad, but the faster "Part 2" remix was the version that took off, reaching number three on the Hot 100.

Which rapper-producer's remix turned Destiny's Child's debut single into their first hit?

Wyclef Jean. The Fugees star rapped on the "Part 2" remix, whose loping beat pulled the group out of ballad mode and carried the song to number three in the US.

D'wayne Wiggins, who produced Destiny's Child's earliest tracks, was a founding member of which R&B group?

Tony! Toni! Toné! made Wiggins's name, and he then took the teenagers into his production company and recorded them at his Oakland studio before their major-label deal.

Destiny's Child played themselves in a 1998 episode of which WB sitcom?

Smart Guy. In an episode titled "A Date with Destiny", the four singers hire the show's young hero as their backup dancer in place of his older sister.

What was Destiny's Child's first song to reach number one on the US Hot 100?

Bills, Bills, Bills. Its writers hit on the hook while out shopping in Texas, and the taunt at a freeloading boyfriend spent a week at number one in July 1999.

The spoken interludes on Destiny's Child's album The Writing's on the Wall are modelled on what?

The Ten Commandments. Each song is set up by a spoken "thou shalt" commandment of relationships, the thread that ties its tales of cheating and break-ups into one concept album.

Destiny's Child's 2001 hit "Emotion" was a cover of a 1970s song written by members of which group?

Bee Gees. Barry and Robin Gibb gave the song to Australian singer Samantha Sang, and the trio's slower cover took it back into the US top ten.

Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" was the group's first collaboration with which producer?

Rodney Jerkins. Beyoncé hated his first backing track, saying there was too much going on in it, until her father played the group a reworked mix that won them over.

How did Luckett and Roberson discover in 2000 that they had been replaced in Destiny's Child?

From the group's new video. The "Say My Name" clip premiered with two unfamiliar singers miming the pair's parts, and they sued within weeks.

Before joining Destiny's Child in 2000, Michelle Williams had been a backup singer for which artist?

Monica. Williams had left university to sing backup for her, and soon afterwards a choreographer friend linked her with her future bandmates.

Which replacement member left Destiny's Child after only five months in 2000, leaving a trio?

Farrah Franklin. The group said the split came after she missed shows and promotional dates, an account she disputed, and the three who remained chose not to replace her.

Destiny's Child's "Independent Women Part I" was the theme song for which 2000 film?

Charlie's Angels. Beyoncé wrote it as a plain anthem of self-reliance, and once her father passed it to the label the words were changed to fit the film.

During Destiny's Child's hiatus, Michelle Williams starred on Broadway in which Elton John musical?

Aida. She took over the lead from Toni Braxton in late 2003, one of several pop singers cast in the title role during the show's Broadway run.

Which Destiny's Child single is built on a sample of Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen"?

Bootylicious. Its producer wanted the opening of "Eye of the Tiger" but couldn't find his copy, so he used the Stevie Nicks riff instead, and Nicks went on to appear in the video.

Why did Destiny's Child postpone the European tour for their album Survivor?

The September 11 attacks. The trio pulled the dates at the last moment, citing the state of the world, and played benefit shows for the survivors at home instead.

Which Destiny's Child member moved in with Beyoncé's family as a child and grew up alongside her?

Kelly Rowland. Her mother, a live-in nanny, wanted a more stable home for her, so the Knowles family took her in and she came to call Beyoncé a sister.

Ex-members Roberson and Luckett sued Destiny's Child over the song "Survivor", claiming it violated what?

A non-disparagement agreement. Their first settlement barred both sides from running each other down in public, and they took the song's lines about not blasting anyone on the radio as aimed at them.

What holiday album did Destiny's Child release in 2001?

8 Days of Christmas. It was a stopgap: as it came out the trio announced a break for solo projects, and they made no new studio album for three years.

Which 2002 Nelly collaboration with a Destiny's Child member topped the Hot 100?

Dilemma. In August 2002 it knocked Nelly's own "Hot in Herre" off number one, so he replaced himself at the top, and it spent ten weeks there in all.

Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child topped which Billboard chart with her 2002 solo debut, Heart to Yours?

Top Gospel Albums. She was the first of the three to put out a solo album during the group's break, and chose church music while her bandmates made pop and R&B records.

Beyoncé co-starred with Mike Myers in which 2002 film?

Austin Powers in Goldmember. Her part, Foxxy Cleopatra, sent up the heroines of 1970s blaxploitation films, and the hit comedy launched her as a star in her own right.

In 2003 Destiny's Child's manager floated adding which singer as a fourth member?

Solange. Beyoncé's younger sister had filled in with the trio on tour before, but their father soon said he had only been testing the public's reaction, and she never joined.

Beyoncé's sister danced in Rowland's place on a 2000 Destiny's Child tour after Rowland did what?

Broke two toes. Rowland fell over a ramp while changing costume in the dark backstage, then sang the remaining shows from a chair while the 14-year-old did her dance steps.

Destiny's Child's Rowland made her feature-film debut in which 2003 horror crossover?

Freddy vs. Jason. She was cast as one of the female leads opposite Freddy Krueger after Beyoncé, fresh from her own first film, told her to go and act.

Which two rappers appear on Destiny's Child's 2004 single "Soldier"?

T.I. and Lil Wayne. Wayne later said his eight bars on the track were what "set me off" as a star, and he gave the credit to Beyoncé.

Which two Destiny Fulfilled singles both peaked at number three on the Hot 100?

"Girl" stalled at 23 in the US but went top 10 in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

In which city's Palau Sant Jordi did Destiny's Child announce on stage in 2005 that they would split?

Barcelona. One of the trio told the crowd during their last European show, and their statement the next day said they wanted to leave on a high note.

Destiny's Child's farewell performance in February 2006 came at which sporting event?

The NBA All-Star Game. It was played in their home city that year, and the farewell was a single song: the trio sang the national anthem before tip-off.

Destiny's Child's 2005 single "Stand Up for Love" was the anthem for which company's World Children's Day?

McDonald's. The chain also sponsored the trio's farewell tour that year, which is why its slogan sits in the tour's name: Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It.

Beyoncé's "Check on It", a new track on Destiny's Child's #1's, was recorded for which 2006 film?

The Pink Panther. Beyoncé played a pop star in the Steve Martin comedy, but the song was cut from its soundtrack album and ended up on the group's greatest-hits set instead.

Who produced "Nuclear", the 2013 track that was the group's first original song in eight years?

It appeared on the Love Songs compilation, released the month before the Super Bowl reunion.

Which Beyoncé solo hit did Destiny's Child perform together at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show?

Single Ladies. Her two bandmates were launched up through the stage floor to join her, weeks after one of them had dismissed reports of a reunion as "not true".

Which honour did Destiny's Child receive in March 2006, weeks after their farewell performance?

A Hollywood Walk of Fame star. All three reunited to unveil it, and Beyoncé told the crowd they had started out at nine years old and that "dreams come true".

Who designed Destiny's Child's stage outfits during their early years?

Tina Knowles. Beyoncé's mother ran a hair salon by day and made the girls' costumes herself, while her husband gave up his own job to manage them.

Teresa LaBarbera Whites, the Dallas-based scout who brought Destiny's Child to Columbia, also signed which pop singer?

Jessica Simpson. Whites worked for the label from an office in Dallas, and the Texan teenager she signed in the late 1990s took to calling her a "second mom".

What was the name of Beyoncé's mother's hair salon, where the future Destiny's Child tried out routines?

Headliners. Customers stuck under the dryers had to sit through the girls' routines, and the tips they left went on trips to a theme park.

Billboard's 2015 ranking by Hot 100 success put Destiny's Child third among girl groups, behind which two?

TLC and the Supremes. Billboard scored every week an act spent on the Hot 100, with weeks at number one counting most, which kept the 1960s Motown trio on top.

In which 2006 musical film did Beyoncé play Deena Jones, a singer modelled on Diana Ross?

Dreamgirls. The part sharpened a comparison she had long brushed off, between herself and Ross and between her own group and Ross's 1960s trio.

Before they were Destiny's Child, the quartet signed as Destiny with which label, which soon dropped them?

Elektra Records. The label let the girls go before they had released an album, and they changed their name once more before a second deal made them stars.

Destiny's Child named their 2001 album after a radio DJ joked that their line-up changes resembled what?

A reality TV show. The DJ quipped that members were being voted off the island, and Beyoncé turned the jibe into the title song, Survivor.

How did Beyoncé explain the modest sales of Destiny's Child's 1998 debut album?

Too mature. "It was a neo-soul record and we were 15 years old," she said, and for the follow-up the group brought in an almost entirely new set of producers to sound their age.

In 2000 Destiny's Child spent the summer as the opening act on which pop star's tour?

Christina Aguilera. The dates began just as the group shrank from four members to three, so the tour was the first test of the line-up that became famous.