In 1998 Sony Music released the self-titled debut album of an all-female quartet who called themselves Destiny’s Child. They were managed by Matthew Knowles, father of lead singer Beyoncé. At that time I was working at Sony, licensing songs for inclusion on compilations outside the US. As the group’s first single, “No, No, No” (“You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah / You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah” – a riveting conversation) climbed the charts around the world, I got an increasing number of requests to license it. I would run the requests by Matthew to make sure he was cool with it. Some managers don’t like their client’s songs to be on compilations. Some feel consumers will then by the compilation instead of the artist’s album. One day Mathew called me. “Glenn, any time you have a licensing opportunity for the girls, just do it. Don’t wait for me to answer. I want them to become household names, so all exposure is good.” His plan worked. Destiny’s Child, which underwent a couple of personnel changes and ultimately became a trio, has sold more than 60 million records. Fortunately, future releases were far superior to “You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah / You say no no no no no / I say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.”
The group released their final studio album in 2004. Members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have put out solo releases, while lead singer Beyoncé Knowles faded into obscurity, never to be heard from again. Oh, wait – I’m confusing her with the lead singer of Blaque. Since leaving Destiny’s Child Beyoncé has sold another 75 million records.
Today Beyoncé turns 33 years old. Here are twenty of her best.
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[…] I don’t understand Beyoncé. She spells her name with an accent over the second e, but she pronounces her name with the accent on the second syllable. That makes no sense to me. Musically, however, I was down with Cé in 2014. She challenged herself artistically with her latest album, snuck out at the tail end of 2013, and for the most part she succeeded. Yonc places four songs in my year-end list, more than anybody else, with two of those songs in my top ten. And to think, she owes her whole career to me. […]
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