Why did Beyoncé leave Destiny's Child? All about singer's history with former musical girl group

Originally called Girls Tyme, Beyoncé's Destiny’s Child got their first break when the girls were signed by Columbia Records in 1997. With the backing of the giant recording label, the girls released chart-busters that soon brought them international fame.

The band soon became a household name after releasing chart-busting tracks and their second album, The Writing’s on the Wall. However, good times didn’t last long as internal problems spread like wildfire and Mathew Knowles was accused of favoritism inside the band. The band finally came to an end in 2006.

Beyoncé left Destiny's Child to pursue her solo career as a singer/songwriter. Queen Bey's album, Dangerously In Love, was extremely successful, making her and the critics realize that she was better off as a solo performer.

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Beyoncé's history with Destiny's Child and why she left the band

Destiny's Child started its journey with Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett. Soon after, their manager Mathew Knowles was accused of favoritism and the latter two members left the group. However, they were replaced by Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams.

Farrah Franklin left just six months later and the group was reduced to just Queen Bey, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. In 2001, they too took a hiatus to pursue their solo careers after releasing their third album called Survivor.

They met again two years later for their fourth and final studio album, Destiny Fulfilled. During their Destiny Fulfilled...And Lovin' It Tour in 2005, they officially announced that the group was going to disband for good.

On a personal level, Beyoncé had several reasons to leave the band. First of all, she had long become the solo breakout star in the group and realized this fact only after the overwhelming popularity of Dangerously In Love, during the band's hiatus period.

Comparing that album's sales with that of the albums released by the other members, we get a clear picture of the gap in popularity levels between the stars. According to statistics released by Billboard, Kelly Rowland's Simply Deep album sold 77,000 while Michelle Williams' Heart To Yours was bought nearly 17,000 times, during their top-performing weeks.

Meanwhile, Bey's Dangerously In Love sold over three hundred thousand copies in the first week, dwarfing the performance of the other two.

A 2004 article in the New York Times referred to the band as a launching pad for Queen Bey. Furthermore, it went on to list all the other singers who separated from their initial bands and went on to have an exceptionally successful career like Diana Ross, David Lee Roth, Michael Jackson, and several others.

"It's been a long-held belief in the music industry that Destiny's Child was little more than a launching pad for Beyoncé Knowles's inevitable solo career," stated the publication.

According to Margeaux Watson of the Suede Magazine, the other members of Destiny's Child were just 'throwing dust on her shine.' She told Times,

"She's the one you can't take your eyes off of; no one really cares about the other girls. I think Beyoncé will eventually realize that these girls are throwing dust on her shine."

Beyoncé (Image by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

In fact, Queen Bey hinted that she would not continue with the band almost two years before the official disbandment. In a 2002 interview with The Telegraph, she revealed her desire to follow in the footsteps of Barbra Streisand. She explained,

"Well, I guess I'd like to be like Barbra Streisand, doing concerts whenever I want. Sometimes I think that after a while I'm gonna move away and sing in a bar somewhere, because I am a little afraid of being too famous."

Needless to say, Queen Bey is the most successful among all the other members of Destiny's Child when it comes to winning accolades and establishing herself as a singer. The 42-year-old has bagged a whopping 32 Grammys, 29 MTV Music Awards and has over a 1000 award nominations till date.