[1] After years of limited success, the original quartet comprising Knowles, Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett were signed in 1997 to Columbia Records as Destiny's Child.

[9] With efforts to sign Girl's Tyme to a major record deal, Frager's strategy was to debut the group in Star Search, the biggest talent show on national TV at the time.

[8][17] Destiny's Child first charted in November 1997 with "No, No, No", the lead single from their self-titled debut album, which was released in the United States on February 17, 1998, featuring productions by Tim & Bob, Rob Fusari, Jermaine Dupri, Wyclef Jean, Dwayne Wiggins and Corey Rooney.

[20] After the success of their debut album, Destiny's Child re-entered the studio quickly, bringing in a new lineup of producers, including Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs[8] and Rodney Jerkins.

[8][26] While they never intended to leave the group, when the video for "Say My Name", the third single from The Writing's on the Wall, surfaced in February 2000, Roberson and Luckett found out that two new members were joining Knowles and Rowland.

[8] Also in 2001, Destiny's Child sang backup vocals for Solange Knowles, who was the lead, on the theme song to the animated Disney Channel series The Proud Family.

Seeing it as a breach of the agreement that barred each party from public disparagement, Roberson and Luckett once again filed a lawsuit against Destiny's Child and Sony Music, shortly following the release of This Is the Remix.

Meanwhile, Knowles made her second film, The Fighting Temptations, and appeared as featured vocalist on her then-boyfriend Jay-Z's single "'03 Bonnie & Clyde", which paved the way for the release of her debut solo album.

[8] D'wayne Wiggins, who had produced their first recordings as Destiny's Child, filed suit in 2002 against his former counsel (Bloom, Hergott, Diemer & Cook LLP) seeking $15 million in damages for lessening his contractual agreement with the group without his consent, effectively nullifying his original contract that offered Sony Music/Columbia Destiny's Child's exclusive recording services for an initial seven years, in exchange for "certain royalties", instead of royalties only from the first three albums.

After a lot of discussions and some deep soul searching, we realized that our current tour has given us the opportunity to leave Destiny's Child on a high note, united in our friendship and filled with overwhelming gratitude for our music, our fans, and each other.

After all these wonderful years working together, we realized that now is the time to pursue our personal goals and solo efforts in earnest...No matter what happens, we will always love each other as friends and sisters and will always support each other as artists.

[75][76] Rowland made a cameo appearance in Knowles' music video for her single "Party" (2011),[77][78] and the group's third compilation album, Playlist: The Very Best of Destiny's Child, was released in 2012 to mark the fifteenth anniversary since their formation.

[83] Later that year, Rowland and Williams made cameo appearances in the music videos for Knowles' songs "Superpower" and "Grown Woman", which were both included on her self-titled fifth solo visual album.

[96] Ann Powers of The New York Times described Destiny's Child music as "fresh and emotional ... these ladies have the best mixes, the savviest samples and especially the most happening beats.

[8] In an interview, Knowles commented: "The lyrics to the single 'Survivor' are Destiny's Child's story because we've been through a lot, ... We went through our drama with the members ... Any complications we've had in our 10-year period of time have made us closer and tighter and better.

"[13] In another song called "Fancy", which contains the lyrics "You always tried to compete with me, girl ... find your own identity", was interpreted by critic David Browne, in his review of the album for Entertainment Weekly magazine, as a response to the lawsuit.

[103] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic summarized Survivor as "a determined, bullheaded record, intent on proving Destiny's Child has artistic merit largely because the group survived internal strife. ...

[20] Coincidentally, Knowles starred in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls as Deena Jones, the frontwoman of the Dreams, a female singing group based on the Supremes.

With Knowles' wide role assumed in the production of Survivor, Gil Kaufman of MTV noted that "it became clear that Beyoncé was emerging as DC's unequivocal musical leader and public face".

[103] For Lola Ogunnaike of The New York Times, "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' inevitable solo career.

[110][111] Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child, MTV's James Montgomery noted that "they have left a fairly sizable legacy behind" as "one of the best-selling female pop vocal groups in history.

"[112] Billboard observed that Destiny's Child were "defined by a combination of feisty female empowerment anthems, killer dance moves and an enviable fashion sense,"[4] while Essence noted that they "set trends with their harmonious music and cutting-edge style.

"[113] In 2015, Daisy Jones of Dazed Digital published an article on how the group made a significant impact in R&B music, writing "Without a hint of rose tint, Destiny's Child legitimately transformed the sound of R&B forever... their distinct influence can be found peppered all over today's pop landscape, from Tinashe to Ariana Grande.

"[114] Nicole Marrow of The Cut magazine believed that R&B music in the 1990s and early 2000s "was virtually redefined by the success of powerhouse performers like TLC and Destiny's Child, who preached a powerful litany of embracing womanhood and celebrating individuality.

"[115] Hugh McIntyre of Forbes wrote that before The Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane burst onto the music scene in the mid-2000s, Destiny's Child were "the reigning queens" of the girl group genre.

[116] Writing for Pitchfork, Katherine St. Asaph noticed how Destiny's Child defined the revival of girl groups similar to The Supremes in the early-to-mid-'90s, saying: There is no better microcosm of what happened to Top 40 music between 1993 and 1999 than this.

Bands like the “Star Search” winner were buried in a landfill of post-grunge, while R&B groups built out from soul and quiet storm to create a sound innovative enough to earn the “futuristic” label almost everything got in that pre-Y2K time.

[71] Destiny's Child has been credited as a musical influence or inspiration by several artists including Rihanna,[131][132] Meghan Trainor,[133] Fifth Harmony,[134] Little Mix,[135] Girls Aloud,[136][137] Haim,[137][138] Jess Glynne,[139] Katy B,[137][140] and RichGirl.

[142] Ariana Grande cited Destiny's Child as one of her vocal inspirations, saying that listening to the group's music is how she discovered her range and "learned about harmonies and runs and ad-libs.

[144] Fifth Harmony cited Destiny's Child as their biggest inspiration, and even paid tribute to the group by performing a medley of "Say My Name", "Independent Women", "Bootylicious" and "Survivor" on the television show Greatest Hits.