The Gorgeous Transformation Of Kelly Rowland

Singer, actor, and music mentor extraordinaire Kelly Rowland first rose to prominence in the late '90s when she became a beloved member of the groundbreaking girl group Destiny's Child. Revered for their powerhouse vocals and heavenly harmonies, Destiny's Child underwent multiple changes to their lineup early in their inception before smashing album sales and topping charts with its final iconic trio: Beyoncé Knowles, Michelle Williams, and of course Rowland herself.

The group would release five studio albums together between 1997 and 2006, during which the talented ladies also branched out to pursue their own creative endeavors. Roland successfully established herself as a talented solo performer with albums like "Simply Deep" and "Here I Am," while also dipping her toes into acting with memorable film and TV appearances. Her gorgeous transformation from an aspiring singer to a bona fide music legend has been inspiring for the world to see, as she preserved through life's many ups and downs.

With Rowland's stunning net worth of $12 million, four Grammy Awards, and a devoted fanbase, the artist has remained a constant presence in the industry for nearly three decades. While many fans and even Beyoncé's dad are hoping for a Destiny's Child reunion, Rowland has stayed busy and continues to showcase her dazzling talents in music, acting, and through her philanthropic work. 

Born in Atlanta, Georgia on February 11, 1981, Kelly Rowland and her mother Doris Rowland Garrison relocated to Houston, Texas when Rowland was 7 years old, and shortly thereafter the future chart-topper met Beyoncé Knowles at an audition for the group Girl's Tyme. Doris allowed her daughter to live with the Knowles family when she was 11, with Roland and Beyoncé's relationship becoming like that of sisters as they pursued music together. "We grew up in this industry together; we've shared ups and downs and we are closer than ever," she told Marie Claire of their bond. "I can tell her anything and she'll never judge me. She's a real friend: genuine, loyal and trustworthy."

Rowland and Beyoncé both joined Támar Davis, LaTavia Roberson, as well as sisters Nikki and Nina Taylor in Girl's Tyme. They competed on the talent show "Star Search" in 1992, ultimately losing to Skeleton Crew. "I was standing there, waiting for our score, and when they're like, 'Three stars,' and they're like, 'Skeleton Crew gets four stars,' we were like, 'This is over,'" Rowland reflected to Yahoo! Entertainment.

"And then the curtain came in front of us, and we cried. Cried, cried so hard. We were so heartbroken! We thought that was the end of it all," she added. Beyoncé's father Matthew Knowles decided to manage the girls and they were reduced to a quartet with new member LeToya Luckett. The group briefly signed with Elektra Records before rebranding as Destiny's Child.

The original members of Destiny's Child included Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé Knowles, LaTavia Roberson, and LeToya Luckett. The group signed to Columbia Records in 1997 and released their self-titled debut album the following year, which featured their popular single "No, No, No." Rowland provided lead and background vocals, and in 1999 their second album, "The Writing's on the Wall," became their breakthrough project and helped them garner widespread success.

The album sold 13 million copies and earned them two Grammys Awards, including best R&B performance for their smash single "Say My Name." However, for their 2001 album "Survivor," Rowland and Beyoncé welcomed Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin to the group after drama happened behind the scenes with the previous lineup. Roberson and Luckett both departed from the group in 2000, only for Franklin to follow just five months later.

The trio's next album, "Survivor," featured hit after hit like "Bootylicious," "Emotion," and "Survivor," topping the U.S. Billboard 200 and eventually selling 10 million copies worldwide. In 2001, the group announced a temporary hiatus so they could all pursue their own solo projects, providing Rowland the opportunity to release "Simply Deep," her debut album. "Since I was coming out of Destiny's Child, everybody was looking at me, 'Ok, now what is she going to do? Can she do this by herself?' I really don't like to worry about that, I just like to focus on what I love, my passion — and that is singing and performing," she told Jet in 2003. 

In 2002, Kelly Rowland collaborated with rapper Nelly for his single "Dilemma," which went on to become one of the biggest songs of the year and was her first No. 1 hit as a solo artist, selling over 7 million copies. The duo won the Grammy Award for best rap/sung collaboration for the tune. Riding high on her success, Rowland released her debut solo album, "Simply Deep," in October of that year and went on tour, the album eventually selling 2.5 million copies worldwide.

The record featured singles such as "Stole" and "Can't Nobody," and Rowland even helped co-write three songs and created their respective vocal arrangements. "I was terrified," Rowland told Billboard of creating the album. "I remember calling the girls and telling them that I missed them. Usually, when we're in the studio, if I can't get a part, then I can tell Michelle and Beyoncé to take it. This time I had to depend on myself."

With "Simply Deep," Rowland wanted to combine rock with elements of R&B, a stark contrast from the style she had with Destiny's Child. "We wanted our solo albums to be different from Destiny's Child so that people wouldn't compare them to the group's work. The albums are an opportunity for people to get to know our personalities," she said (via Independent Online). "In my case, I'm sure that most of my fans didn't realize how much I have always loved rock." 

During her hiatus from Destiny's Child, not only did Kelly Rowland release her debut solo album but she also shifted her focus to acting, appearing in the TV series "The Hughleys" and "Eve" before making her big screen debut in the slasher "Freddy vs. Jason" in 2003. The movie grossed over $116 million worldwide and famously featured both Rowland's Kia Waterson and Robert Englund's Freddy Krueger squaring off in an epic (and controversial) showdown; it was nominated for best horror film at the Saturn Awards.

The singer expressed how supportive Beyoncé Knowles was when she began to wade into the acting waters, as her bandmate had also made the transition to film with "Austin Powers in Goldmember" in 2002. "[Beyoncé] was like, 'You go act. I know you can do it.' She always thought I had personality," Rowland told MTV. "I did a couple of TV spots and now that I'm doing a movie, I'm really excited." She continued showing off her skills as an actor with roles in the romantic comedy "The Seat Filler," along with "American Dreams" and "Girlfriends."

Having successfully established a solo career, Roland prepared to bid adieu to her Destiny's Child career, as the ladies returned to the studio to work on their last album. Rowland had become especially close to Beyoncé's parents during her days in the girl group, and saying goodbye to their fans and her bandmates became a full-circle moment for Rowland. 

After branching out with her own solo music and taking on numerous acting roles, Kelly Rowland reunited with Beyoncé Knowles and Michelle Williams to release the final Destiny's Child album in 2004, aptly named "Destiny Fulfilled." The album spawned two top-five singles, "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier," both of which highlighted Rowland's mature vocals, while providing each member a chance to shine and showcase their growth as artists.

"It was a no-brainer that all of us wanted to do another DC record," Rowland told MTV. "That's where we started. That's the mold everything grew from and you can't just stray away from that. I know all of us are so excited about this next record and we wouldn't have done the solo records if it wasn't for Destiny's Child records." The final album, "Destiny Fulfilled," sold over 497,000 copies on its first week (over 7 million worldwide in total) and won the American Music Award for favorite soul/R&B album, while also earning a Grammy nomination.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the country in 2005, Rowland and Beyoncé set up the Survivor Foundation, which helped find transitional housing for those displaced in the Houston area; the duo had previously created the Knowles-Roland House, a community outreach facility in the city. Rowland remained devoted to philanthropy, becoming an ambassador to the HIV prevention initiative Staying Alive, as well as launching the charity I Heart My Girlfriends, aimed at providing support for teenage girls. 

After Destiny's Child officially disbanded in 2006, Kelly Rowland wasted no time working on new music. The singer released her second and third albums, "Ms. Kelly" and "Here I Am," in the subsequent years, the latter of which contained the popular singles "Commander" and "Motivation" featuring David Guetta and Lil Wayne, respectively. "Motivation" was nominated for a Grammy Award for best rap/sung collaboration and won the top R&B song at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards, becoming one of the highest-charting tunes of her career.

With "Here I Am," Rowland felt as though she discovered who she was as a solo artist, combining urban and dance music together for the album. "I'd say the main difference between this new album and my previous albums, is that this time I wasn't afraid to take a risk. I didn't care whether it was urban, dance, hip hop, whatever," she told Blue and Soul. "I just wanted a great track that I could sing and that people would enjoy."

Rowland released one more solo album in 2013 entitled "Talk a Good Game" before taking a break from music to focus on her other creative passions. She continued acting, nabbing a recurring role in "Empire" and portraying Gladys Knight in "American Soul," the latter for which she received an NAACP Image Award. Rowland also appeared in films such as "Think Like a Man" and "Bad Hair," further proving she could dominate both the music and acting world.

For the eighth season of "The X Factor" U.K. in 2011, Kelly Rowland served as a judge alongside Louis Walsh, Tulisa Contostavlos, and Gary Barlow, providing her insight and wisdom about the music industry. During her stint on the show, she singlehandedly picked out the four women who would go on to become the chart-topping girl group Little Mix. They have since sold over 75 million records worldwide and, like Destiny's Child, have become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

Over a decade later, Roland was rightfully given her flowers when the truth of Little Mix's origins was revealed through previously unseen footage, confirming that Rowland specifically chose the winning lineup. "You know what's funny is I just remember seeing all the ladies and I don't know if it's because of my DC days and just dealing with [what] that chemistry would feel like, but I knew what they felt like in my soul," the singer said to Pop Culture Planet about her influence. "I felt like I knew what they would look like all together and I went off my instincts, to be honest."

Roland must have enjoyed being a music mentor, as she subsequently appeared in reality competition shows like "The X Factor USA," "Chasing Destiny," and "The Voice Australia." She also took over coaching duties from LeAnn Rimes from the 14th season of "The Voice UK."

On May 9, 2014, Kelly Rowland married her longtime partner Tim Weatherspoon in a private Costa Rica ceremony, with Beyoncé Knowles and her sister Solange Knowles among the small number of guests in attendance. Rowland had previously confirmed her engagement to Tim on "The Queen Latifah Show" in December 2013, telling the audience, "He put a ring on it," before further adding, "It's been a while. We've kept it very, very low — for years, to be completely honest" (via Us Weekly).

Together, the couple would welcome sons Titan and Noah Weatherspoon together, who were born in 2014 and 2021, respectively. Rowland had opened about the struggles of juggling a family with her career and the importance of motherhood, having lost hers shortly after giving birth to her first child. Her mother Doris passed away from a heart attack at 66 years old in 2014, and Roland reflected on how her death ultimately made her a better parent and motivated her to nourish her relationships.

"It made me more present, it made me not want to hold anger or harbor anger towards anybody 'cause life is too short," she said on the "High Low with EmRata" podcast, per Yahoo. "It made me want to be honest with somebody and tell them how I felt in the moment, even if I'm mad." In the years following her mother's passing, Roland would subsequently reunite with her estranged father, Christopher Lovett, after three decades.

When Kelly Rowland was 7 years old, she and her mother Doris Rowland Garrison relocated from Atlanta, Georgia to Houston, Texas after Garrison left her abusive alcoholic husband, Christopher Lovett, who had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving in the Vietnam War. During Rowland's rise to fame with Destiny's Child, her father used to show up at concert venues in an attempt to reconcile with Rowland, who had security turn him away.

In 2018, after being estranged for nearly three decades, Rowland reconciled with Lovett and together they sat down for a joint interview in which she spoke about forgiveness, having felt a need to reunite with her father after having children herself. "I was angry at him, I was disappointed in him, I had all those feelings of abandonment," she said on "TODAY." "I didn't know why he wasn't there. I think as a kid you just feel like if they're not there, they don't want to be. So that's what I felt, and that feeling sucked."

The death of Rowland's mother and the birth of her first son inspired the Grammy winner to reconnect with Lovett after years of estrangement, the pair talking for hours during the reunion as she learned more about her father's upbringing. "It was necessary. The little girl in me needed to hear that," Rowland said of their poignant conversation. "It was four or five years ago when we rekindled our relationship, and it's never too late. Forgiveness is always right there." 

Kelly Rowland has maintained a constant presence in Hollywood since the '90s, and she has showcased her talent as a gifted singer and actor repeatedly throughout her impressive career, as well as through her other creative endeavors. The chart-topper has remained quite busy in recent years, serving as a supporting act for Brandy and Monica's tour in 2025 after previously headlining London's Mighty Hoopla music festival.

Rowland can truly do it all, starring in Lifetime Christmas movies, Tyler Perry's legal thriller "Mea Culpa," and most recently in the romantic comedy "Relationship Goals" opposite Method Man. In the latter, the story sees her character, Leah, grieve the loss of her mother, an aspect Rowland immediately connected with. "We celebrate my mama all the time," she told REVOLT of her mother's influence on her and her sons. "I'm always thinking about how she gave me great tools and how I give those tools to them. I would not be here without it. Genuinely."

In December 2025, Rowland confirmed on the "Mama, I Made It" podcast that she was working on a new album. "I'm back in the studio ... I'm very excited," she revealed to host Samantha Chatman before sharing what fans can expect from the record. "But one thing that's at the heart and foundation of who I am is R&B. You're always gonna get R&B — rhythm and blues and soul — and real stories and authenticity."