Tina Knowles, the mother of pop star Beyoncé, has opened up about her daughter’s decision to embark on a solo career after the split of Destiny’s Child.
In a new memoir published on Tuesday (22 April), Tina delved into her own childhood, relationships and experiences raising not one, but two famous artists: Beyoncé and her younger sister, Solange Knowles.
Tina, 71, began her career aged 19 as a makeup artist, dance choreographer, and hair stylist, later rising to prominence due to her involvement in Beyoncé’s career with Destiny’s Child, many of whose most iconic outfits she designed and made herself.
Writing in the memoir, titled Matriarch, Tina addressed the common assumption that Beyoncé’s original plan was to become a solo star, and that pop trio Destiny’s Child – formed in 1990 in their hometown of Houston, Texas – was simply the vehicle through which she would achieve this.
“People oftentimes say that the goal was always for Beyoncé to be solo,” she wrote. “But if that were the case, she would have done that out of the gate. She loved being part of a group.”
Managed by Tina’s then-husband, and Beyoncé’s father, Mathew Knowles, the final lineup of Destiny’s Child comprised Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, who achieved international fame with hits such as “Bills, Bills, Bills”, “Say My Name” and “Jumpin’, Jumpin’”.
They went on hiatus in 2002 in order to allow each member to pursue solo projects, then officially split in 2006 after completing their world tour in support of their fourth and final album, Destiny Fulfilled.
“Michelle was the first with Heart to Yours, which became the best-selling gospel album of 2002,” Tina wrote. “Then Kelly took over the summer with her single with Nelly, ‘Dilemma’, our princess creating a classic and No 1 single in the United States and in places all over Europe, forever launching her as an international star in her own right. It was one of the reasons her album Simply Deep debuted as the No 1 album in the United Kingdom.”
Tina said that Beyoncé pushed her own debut, Dangerously in Love, back so “Kelly could take full advantage of the momentum of her own success”.
When it came to Dangerously in Love, she claimed that music executives at Beyoncé’s label, Sony, told her that there was “not one single” on the album, and that they needed to push back the release date.
The label suggested bringing in “a few tastemakers” to hear their thoughts on the new music, with Tina recalling that “only a couple people said something mildly positive”.
She added: “But even as they did, they looked around ducking for fear that they would be ostracised.”
Tina revealed that Beyoncé wanted to get her future husband, rapper Jay-Z, on the song “Crazy in Love” because the executives “wouldn’t talk to Jay like” they were allegedly talking to her daughter.
Jay-Z apparently told Beyoncé that every song on the album was “a smash”, speaking “as a fellow artist” who had “the drive the suits could never understand”.
“It was my first time witnessing Jay work,” Tina wrote. “He didn’t write anything down, just listened to ‘Crazy in Love’ two, three times in a row, and went to the mic and started rapping. Beyoncé and I were dancing, screaming, throwing fists in the air. It was a solution – not a compromise of her artistry, but a doubling down.”
While the label executives apparently conceded that “Crazy in Love” could be a hit, they were still doubtful about the rest of the album. Still, Beyoncé refused to push the album back: “I am the artist and I know that this is a hit record,” Knowles recalled her daughter saying.
Dangerously in Love received positive reviews from critics upon its release and debuted at the top of the US Billboard 200. It won five Grammy Awards in 2004 and produced several hit singles including “Crazy in Love”, “Baby Boy”, “Me, Myself and I”, and “Naughty Girl”.
Years later, Beyoncé apparently joked about the label’s opinion on the album not having one hit song: “I guess they were kinda right… I had five.”
Matriarch is out now.
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