User:Destiny's Child (H)/sandbox

Destiny's Child are a British R&B girl group, formed in 1993, currently consisting members Kelle Gerrard, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. When signed to EMI Records in 1993, Gerrard and Rowland were joined by LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. They released their debut album "Always & Forever" in November 1995 after which Roberson quit the group and Gerrard, Rowland and Luckett continued as a trio.

1996's "Power Of A Woman" was a commercial success, selling 850,000 copies in the UK and over 1.2 million worldwide. The third album "Before Your Love" was released in 1998 and featured their first UK #1 single "I Wanna Be The Only One". The album was followed by "The Greatest Hits" which sold over 1 million copies in the UK. Gerrard was sacked from the group following the release with Rowland and Luckett continuing as a duo to release their fourth album "Eternal" which stalled at #87 in the UK and selling around 50,000 copies. The group were axed from EMI Records which led to them contacting Gerrard and Roberson to return to the group, which they did and signed to Columbia Records.

Their first post-reunion album, self-titled "Destiny's Child" saw the group crack America with three singles all hitting the Billboard Hot 100 top 3. Midway through the promotion of their second album, Luckett and Roberson were sacked by Gerrard and Rowland to be replaced by Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin. Franklin lasted just two singles before she too was fired. The trio continued to release "Survivor" and "This Is The Remix" before disbanding in early 2004 to concentrate on solo projects.

In November 2012, the group confirmed they would be reforming for the release of "8 Days Of Christmas", a new album of Christmas recordings. They have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

Always & Forever (1995-1996)
The group's debut single "Stay" was released in June 1995 and hit #4 in the UK and #3 in Australia. The second single from the album "Save Our Love" hit #8 in the UK but failed to followed up previous success in Australia, only peaking at #73. "Just A Step From Heaven" was released in October 1995 peaked at #8 in the UK and hit #5 in Australia. Their fourth single "So Good" became the group's first single to miss the UK top ten, peaking at #13 but hit #1 in Ireland. The fifth single "Oh Baby I..." peaked at #4 in the UK and #11 in Ireland. "Crazy", the sixth and final single from the album, it hit #5 in the UK and #19 in Ireland.

The group's debut album "Always & Forever" was released through EMI Records on November 6th 1995 in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The album peaked at #2 in the UK, #12 in Ireland, #46 in New Zealand and #48 in Australia. It sold 1.35 million copies in the UK, 60,000 in Ireland, 210,000 in Australia and 75,000 in New Zealand totaling 1.69 million copies worldwide.

Roberson Departure & Power Of A Woman (1996-1997)
In April 1996, 2 days after the release of "Crazy", LaTavia Roberson quit the group in a statement saying:

"After almost 3 years with the group, a number of situations have led me to quit Destiny's Child. This is in no way a reflection on my bandmates but more on the management team and record label. I wish Kelle, LeToya and Kelly the best of luck in the future"

The group, now consisting of Gerrard, Rowland and Luckett, continued with their second studio album. The lead single "Power Of A Woman" reached #5 in the UK and #19 in Ireland. It also hit the top ten in Australia and New Zealand. Second single "I Am Blessed" hit #7 in both the UK and Ireland. After a slow start, third single "Good Thing" managed to peak at #8 in the UK and the fourth single "Someday" hit #4 in the UK and became their first international #1 single in New Zealand, staying there for 2 weeks. "Secrets" was released as the fifth single but only to the UK market, hitting #9.

Their second album "Power Of A Woman" was released through EMI Records on December 16th 1996. It hit #6 in the UK, #44 in Ireland, #14 in Australia and #42 in New Zealand. The album sold 850,000 records in the UK, 250,000 in Australia, 17,000 in Ireland and 20,000 in New Zealand totaling 1.13 million copies worldwide.

Before Your Love (1998)
Returning after a European publicity tour, the group released "Don't You Love Me" as the lead single from their third album in May 1998. It reached #3 in the UK and #2 in Ireland whilst hitting #1 in France for 6 weeks. "I Wanna Be The Only One", a collaboration with BeBe Winans, became the group's first UK #1 single and also their second in France, spending 21 consecutive weeks at #1 and sold over 2 million copies there. The third and final single "Think About Me", released just to the UK and Ireland reaching #4 and #3.

The album, "Before Your Love", was released on June 1st 1998 through EMI Records. The album peaked at #3 in the UK, #1 in Ireland, #36 in Australia and #50 in New Zealand. The album sold 400,000 copies in the UK, 105,000 copies in Ireland, 90,000 in Australia and 9,000 in New Zealand totalling 604,000 copies worldwide.

The Greatest Hits & Gerrard Departure (1999)
Following the success of their three albums, which had totaled over 3 million sales worldwide, the group announced their first greatest hits album which was led by single "Angel Of Mine" which failed to hit the UK top 10, peaking at #16 but remained at #1 in France for 19 weeks. In France, the album was released as their first studio album under the name "DCv1", peaking at #2 for 13 weeks before spending 12 weeks at #1

Their album "The Greatest Hits" was released on March 1st 1999 through EMI Records. It reached #2 in the UK and #9 in Ireland. The album sold 1.05 million copies in the UK, 40,000 copies in Ireland, 45,000 in Australia and 30,000 copies in New Zealand. The album was certified 2x Diamond in France representing 2 million sales taking total sales of the album to 3.41 million copies becoming their best selling album on EMI Records.

Shortly after the release of the album, Gerrard was fired from the group. Neither the group nor Gerrard released a statement on the decision but Rowland and Luckett continued as a duo instead of replacing Gerrard.

Eternal (1999)
The departure of Gerrard was not received well but Rowland and Luckett continued with the release of new single "What'cha Gonna Do" which only hit #16 in the UK and was the first and only single to be released from the album. It didn't see a release anywhere other than the UK.

The group's fourth studio album, entitled "Eternal" was released on November 1st 1999 through EMI Records. It was a commercial failure, peaking at just #87 in the UK and not reaching any other chart in the world. It sold around 50,000 copies becoming their worst-selling album to date.

Label & Line-Up Changes (1999-2000)
The week following the release of "Eternal", EMI announced that the group had been dropped and would not release any further material. Rowland and Luckett both denied EMI's claims that they had split up but did confirm they would not be releasing music through the label.

In January 2000, the group were contacted by Columbia Records who offered to sign them, on the condition that former members Gerrard and Roberson were reunited with the group. Roberson accepted the offer but Gerrard, who was enjoying solo success, declined to join the group. Rowland herself met with Gerrard to convince her to return which was initially declined for a second time but in May 2000, Gerrard confirmed her return to the group. They signed to Columbia Records a week later.