Kelly Rowland
Kelly Rowland | |
|---|---|
| Kelly Rowland. | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1997-2005 (group) 2002-present (solo) |
Kelly Rowland (born Kelendria Trene Rowland February 11, 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an African American R&B, pop singer, actress, and one of the founding members of the successful musical group Destiny's Child. Rowland has won four Grammy Awards, three with Destiny's Child and one as a solo artist.
Early life
Rowland lived with the family of fellow group member Beyoncé Knowles starting at age 10 and was mistakenly (and helped by the media and A&R hype) referred to as her cousin. Rowland and Knowles met LaTavia Roberson and Letoya Luckett and they formed a quartet that would perform in their backyards and in Tina Knowles' beauty shop. After performing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search. The group, then named Girl's Tyme, were heartbroken when they received only three stars, losing the competition.
Matthew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and Rowland's legal guardian, decided to help the girls reach their dreams of becoming singers. He quit his six figure salary at Xerox to manage the group.
Destiny's Child
Rowland rose to fame with the then quartet Destiny's Child in 1998 with the Billboard Top 10 hit, "No, No, No (Part 2)". Even after much publicized turmoil involving new and exiting group members, Destiny's Child (eventually a trio consisting of original members Rowland and Knowles, with Michelle Williams) managed to become one of the most successful pop/R&B acts in the late 90s/early 00's, earning four #1 Billboard 100 singles, several Top 10's,and two #1 albums. The group also earned No. 1's on various other Billboard and non Billboard charts.
Kelly and Destiny's Child toured as an opening act for both Christina Aguilera and TLC before their 1998 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, number one Hot 100 single "No, No, No". Destiny Child's second album The Writing's On The Wall, released in 1999, featured two number-one hits in "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 Vocal and Best R&B Song, the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, which included Kelly herself.
Their next album, Survivor, proved to be another smash, going to number one on both the American Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts, as well as the Canadian album chart. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Hot 100: "Independent Women" (Part 1) and "Bootylicious", with the album's title track reaching number two. "Independent Women" (Part 1) 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 Vocal. The album's fourth and final single, "Emotions", was a cover of the Bee Gees hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top ten 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 #2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the hits Lose My Breath, Soldier, Girl and Cater 2 U. The album title itself was a hint that Destiny Fulfilled may in fact be the last Destiny's Child album and indeed that was to be the case.
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 #1 hits and most well-known songs. The Greatest Hits collection also includes 3 new tracks, one of which is the final single Stand Up For Love. It debuted at at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #6 on the UK Top 75 chart.
Solo career
Debut album
Rowland released her first solo album, the two million selling Simply Deep in October 2002 domestically and in February 2003 internationally. The album, which went Gold in the US and debuted at #1 on the UK album chart, included the smash hit "Dilemma", a duet with Nelly which spent ten weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (making Rowland the first Destiny's Child member to top the charts outside of the group) and won Rowland her first Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, she shared this award with Nelly.
Acting
Rowland branched into acting with her roles in the 2003 summer blockbuster Freddy vs. Jason and in the 2004 independent film The Seat Filler.
Current projects
Kelly has some individual TV and music projects lined up. She is to appear in three upcoming episodes of UPN sitcom Girlfriends in February 2006. She is featured on the upcoming new album Illumination by soul greats Earth, Wind & Fire. Kelly's singing can be heard on their song "This Is How I Feel" also featuring singer Sleepy Brown. She is also a featured artist on Trina's song called "Here We Go Again", which impacted radio in September 2005 and peaked at #8 and #17 on Billboard's R&B and Pop charts respectively. This was the second single from rapper Trina's new album Glamorest Life, which released in October 2005. Kelly has already began working on her second album in 2004 and it is expected to be released in April 2006 [1][2].
Solo career achievements
- Became the first member of Destiny’s Child to have a no.1 hit outside the group
- Rowland is currently signed to endorse ‘Dark & Lovely’ hair products of the soft sheen Carson product company.
- Dilemma was no.1 for 10 weeks in US, it also went to no.1 in the UK, Australia and most of Europe
- Rowland won an ebel ‘women of achievement for her work on the charity ‘a new bread’
- Rowland won best ‘Rap/Sung Collaboration’ award for the ‘Grammy Awards’ alongside Nelly
- Rowland was voted no.53 on the FHM list of 100 Sexiest Females in the World 2003.
- Kelly has sold over 3 milion albums to date as a solo artist
Awards
- Grammy Awards (2003): Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, "Dilemma" (with Nelly)
- Ebel Award (2003): Women of Achievement "(Charity) - A new bread"
- Capital FM Awards (2003): London's Favorite International Single ("Dilemma") (Kelly with Nelly)
- TMF Awards(Holland)(2003): Best R&B International (Kelly)
- TMF Awards(Holland)(2003): Best Video International ("Dilemma") (Kelly with Nelly)
- Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards(2003): Hot Rap Track of The Year ("Dilemma") (Kelly with Nelly)
Rowland has won numerous awards with Destiny's Child. For a detailed list of the supergroup's awards see Destiny's Child Awards
Solo discography
Albums
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
Simply Deep
(Australia sales: 35,000 units)
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Singles and videos
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | OCC (UK) | ARIA (AUS) | |||
| 2002 | "Dilemma" (Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland) |
#1 | #1 | #1 | Nellyville |
| 2002 | "Stole" | #5 | #2 | #1 | Simply Deep |
| 2003 | "Can't Nobody" | #16 | #5 | #5 | Simply Deep |
| 2003 | "Train On A Track" | - | #20 | #10 | Simply Deep |
| 2005 | "Here We Go" (Trina featuring Kelly Rowland) |
#13 | - | - | Glamorest Life |
Group discography
- Besides her discography during her solo performing years, Kelly Rowland also has singles and albums released with Destiny's Child.
- For her discography and her music video information with the group, see Destiny's Child Discography.
Solo tours
- 2003 Simply Deeper European Tour[3]
Date Location Venue
- Sat 13-Sep Glasgow Armadillo
- Sun 14-Sep Newcastle City Hall
- Tue 16-Sep Wolverhampton Civic
- Wed 17-Sep Bristol Colston Hall
- Fri 19-Sep Manchester Apollo
- Sat 20-Sep Sheffield City Hall
- Sun 21-Sep London Hammersmith Apollo
- Wed 24-Sep Zurich, Switzerland Volkshaus
- Thu 25-Sep Munich, Germany Cirkus Krone
- Sat 27-Sep Berlin, Germany Columbiahalle
- Sun 28-Sep Hamburg, Germany Grosse Freiheit
- Mon 29-Sep Copenhagen, Denmark Vega
- Wed 1-Oct Frankfurt, Germany Jahrhundhalle
- Thu 2-Oct Amsterdam, The Netherlands Heineken Music Hall
- Fri 3-Oct Düsseldorf, Germany Phillipshalle
- Sat 4-Oct Brussels, Belgium Forest National
Filmography
- 2003 Freddy vs. Jason
- 2004 The Seat Filler
TV
- 2002: The Hughleys
- 2003: Born to Diva
- 2003: American Dreams
- 2003: Eve
- 2006: Girlfriends
Charity work
Songwriting legand David Foster, his daugther Amy Foster-Gillies and Beyonce Knowles wrote Destiny's Child's last single Stand Up For Love for World Children's Day, an event which takes place annually around the world on November 20 to raise awareness and funds for children's causes worldwide. Over the past three years, more than $50 million has been raised to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children's organizations.
Destiny's child lent their voices and support as global ambassadors for the 2005 program. In this role, Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams visited Ronald McDonald Houses around the world during their "Destiny Fulfilled...and Lovin' It" global tour and donated a portion of their North American ticket sales to Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland, along with Mathew Knowles, Tina Knowles and Solange Knowles-Smith recently announced the formation of the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up for the purpose of providing transitional housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston, Texas area. The Survivor Foundation extends the philanthropic mission of the Knowles-Rowland Center For Youth, a multi-purpose community outreach facility in downtown Houston.
See also
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)
- List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
External links
- Official Website
- Kelendria Fans The one and only Kelly Rowland Fan Source
- Utimate Kelly Rowland
- Kelly Rowland World
- Kelly Rowland Fansite, news, video