THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW Tina & Mathew Knowles Created The Destiny's Child Gold Mine - Interview

Ebony, Sept, 2001 by Lynn Norment

"Success is having a great product and maximizing on the needs of the consumer."

--Mathew Knowles, manager, Destiny's Child

BEAUTIFUL. Sassy. Talented. The girl group Destiny's Child is a great product, and based on what seems to be universal appeal and ubiquitous presence, there is fervent interest from music consumers who have purchased more than 15 million of the trio's records.

The group's new CD, the multiplatinum Survivor, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's music chart and generated the highest first-week total for a female group and the biggest opening sales in Columbia Records' history. Survivor opened at No. 1 in nine other countries as well. It follows the success of the group's second CD, The Writing's On the Wall (1999), which has sold more than 10 million copies.

The ascent of Destiny's Child is a textbook case of how to make it in the recording industry. The group went through several transitions but it ended up with all the right ingredients for today's hot music market. They have talent, beauty, youth and a stylish image that has started a number of fashion trends. Many of the group's fans know that Beyonce's parents are involved, but few realize how instrumental Mathew and Tina Knowles are to the group's management, imaging and success.

Mathew Knowles, a Fisk University graduate and former corporate marketing and sales star, has built a reputation for being an astute, hands-on manager who engineered the group's success. He also runs a music empire that includes a management firm, record label and production studio. Tina Knowles is the style maven who crafted the group's edgy, sassy image. She owns one of Houston's hottest hair salons, but years ago scaled back her business to travel with her young charges. She started styling for the girls "out of necessity," she says, and has received praise for her dazzling, trendsetting costumes and hairstyles.

The Knowleses have been supportive from the very beginning, when Beyonce and a group of young girls decided they wanted to be dancers and, later, singers. They helped to train and to rehearse the girls, to select (or sew) costumes, and to style hair. The Knowleses booked and helped to transport them to performances.

During the summer, they turned their home into a camp where a houseful of girls were tutored in vocalizing, choreography, stage presentation and interviewing skills. As a team, the girls and the Knowleses have experienced a lot of ups and downs, including criticism and ridicule--and a lawsuit from former members. Today they share success.

It all started in the 1980s when the couple was made aware by Beyonce's dance teacher that their daughter had a special gift. The instructor personally took her star student to various competitions. "She was a sweet but really shy kid," recalls Tina. "She'd come into a room and just want to be invisible. But when she got on stage and sang the Beatles' `Imagine,' we couldn't believe it was the same kid. Her confidence came out. She'd get a standing ovation." Beyonce won against kids as old as 15 and 16.

"She must have done 30 of those competitions," recalls Mathew. "And she carried first place in every last one of them." Word spread across Texas about the talented little Beyonce Knowles.

In 1989, while at Tina's salon, the Knowleses received an inquiry about creating a girl group around Beyonce. Over a year's time, 40 to 50 girls from various ethnicities participated. Tina focused on styling the girls' hair and creating their costumes. When they didn't win television's Star Search, Mathew sought advice from the show's producer. "You know, Mr. Knowles, those who have lost are the ones who go on to success," he was told. "For those who lose, something happens. They go back and rededicate themselves, reorganize and some of them go on to make it. For some reason, those who win don't go on."

That's when the combo that would become Destiny's Child regrouped and Mathew Knowles gave up his high-six-figure income as Xerox's No. 1 salesman of multi-million-dollar medical equipment to manage the group full-time. Rather than trying to secure a record deal as a dance group, they pared down and transformed into a singing group that consisted of several of the original dancers: Beyonce, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. While auditioning for a fourth singer, LaTavia introduced Kelly Rowland into the circle. (Kelly ended up living in the Knowles household and still lives with the family today.) At the time, the girls were ages 10 and 11. During those early years, the group had names that included Girls Tyme, Something Fresh, Cliche, The Dolls and Destiny.

After both a production deal and a record contract went nowhere, Knowles in 1995 negotiated a recording deal with Columbia Records. Tina suggested the name Destiny after she found an early photo of the girls in her Bible. They chose the name Destiny's Child because several other groups at the time were called Destiny. Beyonce was 13 and Kelly 14.

They were 15 and 16 in 1997 when "No, No, No" from the group's self-titled debut album stormed the music world. From that point the group has repeatedly said "no" to failure and distraction despite a series of crises that rocked the quartet in late 1999 and 2000. While the second CD, The Writing's on the Wall, was topping the charts with "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills," two of the members, Luckett and Roberson, fired Knowles and demanded to have their own manager. (They later filed a law suit, which eventually was settled.) The group moved on without them when Beyonce and Kelly signed two new singers--Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin--and continued to perform and promote the album. A few months later, as Destiny's Child was about to depart for Australia, Franklin announced she was leaving. This time the remaining girls decided to perform as a trio--and they haven't slowed down or looked back since.