Kelly Rowland

Singer Kelly Rowland has followed a path that’s been undeniably blessed: As a founding member of the biggest R&B girl group of the early 2000s, Destiny’s Child, she had none other than Beyoncé Knowles as a best friend and musical partner. And while it must be hard to share a spotlight with the cultural supernova that is Beyoncé, Rowland has managed to carve out a meaningful, successful solo career for herself. Born Kelendria Trene Rowland in Atlanta, GA, in 1981, she had her star hitched to Destiny’s Child from the group’s 1997 debut until their disbanding in 2005. Rowland released her first solo album, Skin Deep, in 2002 and scored a massive hit single with the rapper Nelly that same year on the slow jam “Dilemma.” But it was her second release, 2007’s Ms. Kelly, that established her sassy Houston sound with the bouncing R&B single “Like This.” The fingerprints of Destiny’s Child are all over that release, but she stretched her boundaries on 2011’s Here I Am, which featured the steamy duet “Motivation” with Lil Wayne, and 2013’s Talk a Good Game. After a recording hiatus, Rowland reappeared with a string of forward-thinking singles, starting in 2018 with the fierce “Kelly.” In 2020, she contributed to the soundtrack for the satirical comedy horror flick Bad Hair (and appeared in it), while also releasing excellent singles like the Afrobeat-tinged “Hitman” and the pop-trap stunner “Coffee.”