Matthew Knowles, co-creator, former manager of Destiny’s Child and father of Beyoncé, is producing a musical about the R&B group. Best known as the trio comprising Beyoncé, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, the Houston band sang of being independent women who warned men not to expect relationships on their terms, making it somewhat surprising that Knowles’s musical will be told from his perspective.
“I want to pull back the curtain,” Knowles said in a press release. “I feel it’s time to give the world an opportunity to hear, see and feel the victories and failures that I’ve had as a husband, father and manager who risked everything in pursuit of fulfilling dreams – those of mine and others.”
Beyoncé, who severed professional ties with her father in March 2011 after promoter Live Nation advised her that he was potentially stealing money from her tour, has not commented on the production. Knowles filed a lawsuit against Live Nation in July 2011; a court ruled in the promoter’s favour.
Knowles is to collaborate with director, writer and producer Je’Caryous Johnson on the project. Johnson’s recent productions include an original musical based on the life of Snoop Dogg, and Set It Off, an adaptation of the 1996 Warner Bros film of the same name. Johnson described the Destiny’s Child project as a “unique and inspiring story that will fearlessly tackle hard truths while bringing both vindication and healing to all who lived [through] it”.
Knowles began managing an early incarnation of the group, then known as Girl’s Tyme, in 1990. They adopted the name Destiny’s Child in 1997, the year they signed to Columbia Records. The group changed lineups twice before settling as Beyoncé, Williams and Rowland in 2000.
Destiny’s Child released five albums, including 1999’s The Writing’s on the Wall, which became one of the biggest-selling R&B albums of all time, and 2001’s Survivor, the biggest-selling album of the 21st-century by a girl group. The band split in 2006, and reunited for Beyoncé’s 2018 headline performance at Coachella.
Survivor: The Destiny’s Child Musical is to debut in Houston in spring 2020, with plans to transfer to Broadway and London’s West End.
