TIME TO SPARKLE

Breakout R&B Girl Groups: Who Had The Star Power To Go Solo?


Every once in a while, a woman emerges in the music scene with such talent and bravado you can’t help but think a star is being born. The upcoming film Sparkle could do just that for American Idol‘s Jordin Sparks, who in the movie actually plays the breakout lead in a fictional 1960s R&B girl group.

It had us thinking about other recent girl groups and the breakout stars who went on to even bigger fame: Is it inevitable that one member rises to the top, goes solo and never looks back? Check out our roundup of recent R&B and hip-hop acts that have produced worship-worthy divas.

Have a group we missed? Praying for a reunion? Sing out in the comments section.

Sparkle hits theaters on August 17

 


Initially an R&B favorite with hits like “Bills, Bills, Bills,” Destiny’s Child began moving toward a more mainstream-pop sound with their second album, The Writing’s on the Wall, and continued to do so until they disbanded in  2006. The more radio-friendly DC3 became, the more Beyoncé was positioned to be a star. After the band’s break-up, Beyoncé has launched into superstardom, while Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams (a.k.a., “the other two”) have pursued solo careers with mixed results.

Recently Destiny’s Child manager Mathew Knowles claimed the girls would reunite to complete two Destiny’s Child catalog records “with new material” and a possible tour. But Rowland put the kibosh on a reunion, saying the single ladies were “just enjoying each others’ friendship.”

Plus, we figure Beyoncé might be too busy ruling the world.

 

Black Eyed Peas diva Fergie began her career as Stacey Ferguson, part of the R&B-pop girl group Wild Orchid. At their height in the early 1990s, the group was playing arenas and scoring Billboard hits with “At Night I Pray” and “Talk to Me.” But by the late ’90s, the bloom has wilted on Wild Orchid. (Fergie late recounted one time when they were performing to an audience of three people at a state fair—next to a pig sty.)

Lightning struck twice when Fergie joined the Black Eyed Peas, which was then moving toward a pop sound. She brought some major vocal pipes to complement Will.I.Am’s rapping and the combination turned BEP into a legitimate super-group. The Duchess eventually ventured off to do a solo album but returned to the fold for 2010’s The Beginning (and an offer she couldn’t refuse: performing at the Super Bowl). But last summer, the Peas announced they were taking an indefinite hiatus, opening the door for another Fergie solo project.

 

Before heading up The Pussycat Dolls, singer Nicole Scherzinger was a part of Eden’s Crush, the pop girl group spawned from the WB’s 2001 show Popstars. The band’s first single, “Get Over Yourself” got some airplay but Nicole really found success with the Dolls.

On certified hits like “Don’t Cha,” “When I Grow Up” and “I Hate This Part,” Scherzinger was doing all the lead—and backup—vocals, but was still presented as part of an ensemble. Since leaving the group—and taking on a one-season gig on X Factor and roles in How I Met Your Mother and Men in Black 3,  Scherzinger’s finally approaching household-name status.

While Scherzinger’s two solo efforts have been, shall we say, less that triumphant(2007’s Her Name is Nicole was shelved before it was even released) we’re confident this pussycat has plenty of lives left.

 

Badass singer Pink got her start in an R&B girl group named Choice. But her career skyrocketed when she made the choice to leave the band after three years. Originally Pink leaned toward R&B, with chart-toppers like  “There You Go” and “Most Girls.” But she’s evolved into a more rockified-pop sound that seems truer to her natural attitude, with songs like “Raise Your Glass” and “Blow Me (One Last Kiss).” Her next album, The Truth About Love, is due out September 18.

Let’s take a moment to think what could have been: TLC will always have a place in our hearts with turn-of-the-century anthems such as “No Scrubs” and “Waterfalls.”

They remain the best-selling female R&B group of all time, but after the death of  Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, the group’s rise was cut tragically short. Left Eye’s surviving bandmates, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas have attempted to continue the act in various forms but with limited success.)

Do you think the Grammy winners would be performing and releasing music today if Lopez was still with us? Or would Left Eye have had the star power to make it solo?

Let us know in the comments.

 

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