FEATURE:
Beyoncé at Forty
Will We See the Return of Destiny’s Child?
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EVEN though we saw a raft of…
PHOTO CREDIT: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
iconic girl groups through the 1960s and 1970s, I think that the 1990s produced more than its fair share! Maybe our very own Spice Girls were among the most popular, though I always felt that the U.S. alternative was much stronger, varied and edgier. The tunes were hook-ier and bigger, the vocals finer and more accomplished. Few girl groups rivalled Destiny’s Child. Whilst there was personnel change in the ranks, the ‘classic line-up’ comprised Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. The trio performed together as part of Beyoncé’s Coachella set in 2018. Their performances together were sensational! Because Beyoncé is forty on 4th September, I am doing a number of features about her. Many would want a studio follow-up to her amazing 2016 album, Lemonade. That said, if there was another Destiny’s Child album, nobody would complain! The last album from the group, Destiny Fulfilled, arrived in 2004. It is an underrated record that contains some of the group’s best tracks. I would expect that, were there a reunion, we might get an album similar to that one. Beyoncé has confirmed she has been working on new music. DAZED ran an article recently after fans noticed how the social media pages for Destiny’s Child had changed:
“Destiny’s Child fans are buzzing after the group changed the header image on their Facebook and Twitter accounts earlier this week, prompting the question: is new music on the way?
The group’s name started to trend on Twitter shortly after, with fans speculating everything from reissues of old music to new material and a reunion tour.
The trio previously caught up in May ahead of the release of Michelle Williams’ new book, Checking In: How Getting Real about Depression Saved My Life – and Can Save Yours. In an audio clip posted to Williams’ Twitter, Beyoncé can be heard saying: “I’m cooking some music.”
The singer recently confirmed this in a cover story for Harper’s Bazaar's September issue, where she stated: “Yes! New music is coming.”
“I’ve been in the studio for a year and a half. Sometimes it takes a year for me to personally search through thousands of sounds to find just the right kick or snare. One chorus can have up to 200 stacked harmonies,” she said. “Still, there’s nothing like the amount of love, passion, and healing that I feel in the recording studio. After 31 years, it feels just as exciting as it did when I was nine years-old.”
While there hasn’t been any official news surrounding a Destiny’s Child release, Beyoncé’s recent Tiffany ambassadorship and her new Ivy Park collection hint that exciting things are on the horizon”.
Maybe there is going to be a tour or something of that sort. Their third studio album, Survivor, turned twenty earlier this year. I am writing this on 19th August; it is a bit too early to say what will come and whether it will be an album. Maybe, as Beyoncé is forty next month, there will be a celebration around that. If she were to lead Destiny’s Child out on a tour or announce that they had written an album, that would send fans wild! I would definitely be up for that.
It has yet to be seen. Destiny’s Child are one of the finest girl groups ever. Soulful, sassy, inspiring and replete with gems, it is a shame that 2004 was when we last heard an album from them. That said, Beyoncé especially was keen to go solo and try something new. There is still a lot of love between her, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland. Let us hope that rumours translate to announcements in the coming days and weeks. I shall wrap things up. I am engrossing myself in Beyoncé for the next week or so. Ahead of a big birthday, it gives me an excuse to delve into her music and how influential she. Recent possibilities of a Destiny’s Child project have definitely got people interested. We shall see what comes. Maybe it is not going to be an album that sounds like their music in the early-2000s. It may – if there is an album – be a more composed and mature offering. Perhaps there is a Beyoncé album in addition to some Destiny’s Child dates. The thought of the incredible girl group touring and bringing those classics to the fans is what we need right now! Their chemistry, strength, incredible singing and awesome tracks are enough to…
TAKE our breath.