LeToya Luckett

LeToya Luckett is known for her solo career, as well as her work as a founding member of Destiny's Child.

She was born on March 11, 1981 in Houston, Texas, a hometown she proudly represents. Like many R&B singers, she had her start in the church, singing at the Brentwood Baptist Church. Her father was also a singer, and encouraged her pursuit of the craft, signing up for classes including training to become an opera singer.

While in school, fate brought LeToya together with her eventual bandmate Beyonce Knowles. Entering class one day, LeToya found a new student sitting in her seat. The two hit it off, eventually becoming best friends and music partners as LeToya joined Beyonce's musical group.

The group would eventually become Destiny's Child, comprised of Luckett, Knowles, and two other women, LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland. As the group was first signed by Elektra Records, and later by Columbia Records, a key event happened that would change LeToya's career. Matthew Knowles, Beyonce's father, demanded that all of the girls sign with him before the label, and he held a powerful role over the group. Matthew's control over the group would eventually lead to LeToya's expulsion from Destiny's Child.

However, before the drama could arise, Destiny's Child launched an impressive career. The group opened for acts like SWV, Dru Hill and Immature, building a name for themselves in anticipation of their self-titled debut album which came out in 1998. The album eventually sold one million copies in the United States and three million worldwide, powered by the hit single "No, No, No Part II" which went platinum.

The group's second album was what really put LeToya on the map, as Writing on the Wall released in 1999 and went on to sell eight million copies in the USA. One of the best selling albums by a female group, it had hit after hit including "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Bug a Boo," "Say My Name," and "Jumpin, Jumpin." As the group grew successful, Luckett and Roberson felt like the writing really was on the wall, as they felt Matthew Knowles was pushing them out of the group. When "Say My Name" had a music video released, the girls worries were confirmed as they found themselves replaced by two new members, Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin.

The two girls went on to sue Matthew Knowles and reached a settlement. They then formed their own group, Anjel, and added two new members Naty Quinones and Tiffany Beaudoin. The group worked closely with the help of Jagged Edge to build a collection of 22 songs and even appeared in Jagged Edge's "Where the Party At" remix video before their production company closed and the group members parted ways.

After two groups, LeToya decided to go her own way. She signed to Capitol Records in 2003 and began putting together some solo material. She slowly released songs to build hype, releasing "You Got What I Need" in 2004 and "All Eyes on Me" in 2005. She collaborated with R&B singer Houston and her boyfriend Slim Thug on the tracks "What Love Can Do" and "This Is My Life" respectively.

With the hype building, LeToya released her self-titled debut album in 2006. The album did well, launching to the number one spot on the charts and went gold after a single month. The album eventually went on to achieve platinum status, and featured the singles "Torn," and "She Don't." Unfortunately for LeToya, it seemed trouble followed her wherever she went, as the album's third single was stalled out by the merger of Capitol Records and Virgin Records. As a result, the third single "Obvious" was never released.

Despite the limited support from her label as Capitol and Virgin worked on their merger, LeToya charged ahead with her second album, Lady Love. The album released in August 2009, after a number of delays caused by the merger. The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 and finished with a sales figure around 133,000. LeToya worked hard to promote the album, releasing a five-track sampler in anticipation of the album, and putting out three different singles with videos. The singles for the album included "Not Anymore," "She Ain't Got," and "Regret." "Regret" was LeToya's second song to enter the Hot 100, reaching a high of seventy-eight.

Currently, LeToya is working on another album, which is expected to be called Love, Life & Music.

Outside of music, LeToya has done some work acting in plays, movies and in tv shows. In 2008, she was in a nationwide tour of the play Rumors. She's also starred in the movies Preacher's Kid, Killers, and From the Rough.