Survivor (Destiny's Child song)

"Survivor"
Song

"Survivor" is a song by American R&B group Destiny's Child. It was written and composed by band member Beyoncé Knowles, Anthony Dent, and Mathew Knowles for the band's third studio album Survivor (2001). The song was won for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" at the 2002 Grammy Awards.

The video won the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video, and a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for "Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo". The opening track of singer-songwriter Jill Sobule's 2004 album The Folk Years 2003-2003 is a cover of the song, and a pseudo-cover of the song also opens rapper Vanilla Ice's 2005 album Platinum Underground.

Song information

Lead singer Beyoncé was inspired to write the lyrics for "Survivor" after hearing a radio DJ tease about the fact that three members had already left Destiny's Child, much like getting voted off the Survivor reality show TV series & the song was eventually used in the May 1, 2001 Survivor (reality show) season finale commercial, and on a VH1 interview on April 8, 2006. Beyoncé later confirmed in an interview that the show also did indeed inspire the song. The song has proved to be the signature song of Destiny's Child for its powerful message, along with "Say My Name", "Jumpin', Jumpin'", "Bootylicious" and "Independent Women (Part I)".

Music video

The video premiered on "MTV - Making the Video" and is styled in the sense of three survivors living on an uninhabited island. It also shows a brief prelude to how the girls got shipwrecked.

The musicclip is featured on the DualDisc edition of the album #1's, as an enhanced video on the international edition of the album Survivor and on the 2004 Wal-Mart exclusive DVD titled Fan Pack.

The remix video featuring Da Brat is not featured on any video compilation.

Chart performance

"Survivor" debuted at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the group's second highest debuting single to date, just behind "Lose My Breath" at #30, and quickly raced up the charts reaching its peak position of #2 within a month. It was unable to claim the summit spot due to the massive success of Janet Jackson's "All For You". The song topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for eight weeks. The song only reached number five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The single reached number one on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for five consecutive weeks and peaked at number three on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.

In the United Kingdom, "Survivor" debuted at number one on the singles chart and went on to sell over 260,000 copies. It also topped the singles chart in Ireland, Netherlands, and Japan. Moreover, it held the top position in the United World Tracks Chart for five weeks. It was ranked one in Canada, peaked second in New Zealand, placed in the top 5 in Australia and Germany, and reached number 12 in France.

Controversy

Former group members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson filed a lawsuit against Knowles, Roland, and former manager Mathew Knowles; they claimed some of the lyrics in "Survivor", such as "You thought I wouldn't sell without you/sold nine million", violated a previous agreement that prevented either party from insulting the other.

Credits and personnel

• Lead vocals: Beyoncé Knowles (2 verses), Kelly Rowland (harmonizes 2 verses, 1 bridge) and Michelle Williams (harmonizes 2 verses, 1 bridge)
• Vocal production: Kelly Rowland and Mathew Knowles

Charts

Chart (2001) Peak position Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart 7 Ö3 Austria Top 40 10 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart 5 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart 6 Danish Singles Chart 4 Dutch Singles Chart 2 Finnish Singles Chart 4 French Singles Chart 12 German Singles Chart 5 Irish Singles Chart 1 Italian Singles Chart 6 New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 2 Norwegian Singles Chart 1 Swedish Singles Chart 3 Swiss Singles Chart 5 UK Singles Chart 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2 U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 5 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1

Formats and track listings

• Australian Maxi-Single

1. "Survivor" (Album Version)
2. "So Good" (Maurice's Soul Remix)*
3. "So Good" (Digital Black-N-Groove Club Mix)*
4. "Independent Women Part I" (Joe Smooth 200 Proof 2 Step Mix)

• Dance Mixes (US)

1. "Survivor" (Remix Extended Version featuring Da Brat)
2. "Survivor" (Calderone Club Mix) [aka "Victor Calderone Club Mix"]
3. "Survivor" (Calderone Drum Dub Mix)
4. "Survivor" (CB200 Club Anthem Mix)
5. "Survivor" (Azza'z Soul Remix)

• European Maxi-Single

1. "Survivor" (Album Version)
2. "Survivor" (Azza'z Soul Remix Radio Edit)
3. "Survivor" (Digital Black-N-Groove Radio Mix)
4. "Survivor" (CB200 Club Anthem Mix)

• UK Part 1

1. "Survivor" (Album Version)
2. "Survivor" (Azza'z Soul Remix Radio Edit)
3. "Survivor" (Victor Calderone Club Mix)

• UK Part 2

1. "Survivor" (Jameson Full Vocal Remix)
2. "Independent Women" (Live At The Brits)
3. "So Good" (Maurice's Soul Remix)*
4. Footage Of The Performance At The Brits

-* The remixes of "So Good" contain newly recorded vocals, different from the album version.

Official versions

• "Survivor" (A cappella)
• "Survivor" (Instrumental)
• "Survivor" (Azza'z Soul Remix)
• "Survivor" (Azza'z Soul Remix Radio Edit)
• "Survivor" (CB2000 Club Anthem Mix) aka (Josh Charlie Main Remix)*
• "Survivor" (Digital Black-N-Groove Remix) aka (Josh Hard Main Remix)*
• "Survivor" (Josh Hard Radio Remix)*
• "Survivor" (Jameson Full Vocal Remix)

• "Survivor" (Maurice's Soul Mix) aka (Josh Soul Main Remix)
• "Survivor" (Josh Soul Radio Remix)
• "Survivor" (Remix Extended Version) (feat Da Brat)
• "Survivor" (Richard Vission's V-Quest Remix)
• "Survivor" (Victor Calderone Mix)
• "Survivor" (Victor Calderone Drum Dub Mix)

-* These remixes contain new lead vocals by Michelle and Kelly and re-recorded vocals by Kelly on her verse and by Michelle on bridge, arranged by Maurice Joshua.

External links

• DestinysChild.com — official site