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Kelly Rowland (born Kelendria Trene Rowland on February 11, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and occasional actress, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful musical group Destiny's Child, the world's best-selling female group of all time. They have sold a combined total of 50 million records to date as Destiny's Child. Rowland has won four Grammy Awards – three with band and one as a solo artist.
Destiny's Child was originally signed by Elektra Records in 1995, but were dropped before they could release their debut album. The quartet was signed to Columbia Records the following year, and their career took off. Destiny's Child rose to fame in 1998 with the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit, "No, No, No Part 2." Even after much publicized turmoil involving group members, Destiny's Child (eventually a trio consisting of original members Rowland and Knowles, with Michelle Williams), managed to become the most successful R&B/pop acts in the late '90s/early '00s, earning four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, several top 10's, and two Billboard 200 number-one albums. The group also earned number-ones on various other Billboard and non-Billboard charts.
Rowland and Destiny's Child toured as an opening act for Christina Aguilera after their 1998's Platinum-selling self-titled debut album Destiny's Child was released. Their debut album was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri and featured the Platinum-selling single "No, No, No Part 2." Destiny Child's second album, The Writing's on the Wall, released in 1999, featured two number-one hits: "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name." "Bug a Boo" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" were also popular singles from the album. "Say My Name" won two awards at the 2001 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" and "Best R&B Song" – the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, which included Rowland.
Their next album, Survivor, proved to be another smash, going to number one on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, as well as the Canadian albums chart. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Hot 100: "Independent Women Part I" and "Bootylicious," with the album's title track reaching number two. "Independent Women Part I" had been the theme song for Charlie's Angels in late 2000, before the album's 2001 release. The title track "Survivor" would win the group their third Grammy for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals." The album's fourth single, "Emotion," was a cover of the Bee Gees' hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top 10 hits.
After the three year hiatus that involved concentration on individual solo projects, Rowland rejoined Beyoncé Knowles and Michelle Williams for Destiny's Child's fourth (and final) studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, released November 2004. The album hit number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the hits "Lose My Breath," "Soldier," "Girl," and "Cater 2 U." Afterwards Rowland and the other two-thirds of Destiny's Child embarked on a world tour sponsored by McDonald's titled Destiny Fulfilled and Lovin' It, in 2005, visiting over 70 cities throughout Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America from April to September. Shortly before the end of the European leg of the tour, at a concert in Barcelona, Spain on June 13, 2005, Kelly announced that the group was to go their separate ways the following September.
In October 2005, the group released their final album, entitled #1's, including all of Destiny's Child's number-one hits and most well-known songs. The collection also included three new tracks, one of which is the final single "Stand Up for Love." It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and number six on the UK Top 75 Singles. At the 2005 World Music Awards, Destiny's Child were given the award for the biggest-selling girl group of all time with record sales of over 50 million.
Solo career
Simply Deep
Rowland's first solo album, Simply Deep was released in October 2002 domestically and in February 2003 internationally. The album featured a range of "alternative R&B music", widely influenced by rock and pop music, and yielded the BAM & Ryan number-one hit "Dilemma," a Grammy-winning ("Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" in 2003) duet with rapper Nelly, which eventually spent ten weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Other production was among contributed by Robert "Big Bert" Smith, Rich Harrison, Solange Knowles, Alonzo Jackson, and Damon Elliot. While the album entered the top 10 on the majority of the charts it appeared on, and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200, eventually receiving a gold certification for more than 500,000 copies sold; Simply Deep reached number-one in the UK, and was moreover certified gold in Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and other countries.
Though the lead single "Stole" reached the top ten in several countries, and peaked within the top five in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, it never reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Follow-up song "Can't Nobody" barely made it to the top 10 on most charts, but peaked at number 2 on the UK singles chart; the album's final single, "Train on a Track" received limited international release, and thus failed to chart or sell noticeably.
In 2005, Rowland appeared on rapper Trina's song called "Here We Go," which impacted radio in September 2005 and became another top 20 success for both artists in New Zealand, Finland, the United States, and the UK.
Ms. Kelly
Rowland has been working on her sophomore solo album on and off since 2004. Originally entitled My Story, the album's first version was actually scheduled for a release on June 6, 2006 and involving main production by Rich Harrison, Rockwilder, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, Soulshock & Karlin and songwriters Tank and Solange Knowles. Though she world premiered a Big Tank produced lead single, "Gotsta Go," on the 2006 MTV Asia Awards in Bangkok on May 6, 2006, Rowland, her management and Columbia Records eventually decided to shelve the album and re-work a version with a different vibe since the singer considered the final tracklist "too full of midtempos and ballads:" The singer eventually consulted a few other producers to collaborate on the album, renamed Ms. Kelly, including Sean Garrett, Billy Mann, Scott Storch, and Atlanta-based Polow Da Don, who contributed the single "Like This", a duet with rapper Eve, to the album. The single debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 31 and has since moved to number 59.
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