Survivor is the third studio album by American girl group Destiny's Child. It was released on April 25, 2001, by Columbia Records.<!--It was first released in Japan on April 25, 2001, before being released in the United States on May 1. --> As their breakthrough second studio album The Writing's on the Wall (1999) became a rising commercial success, Destiny's Child faced the controversial departure of original members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, who were replaced with Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams, in February 2000. Soon afterwards, they commenced production of their third studio album, tentatively titled Independent Women.
Mere five months after joining, Franklin departed from the group in July 2000, and "Independent Women Part I" was subsequently released as a single from the accompanying soundtrack for the film Charlie's Angels (2000). The song became a global commercial success and the group's third US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. Retitling the album Survivor in reference to the turmoil surrounding their line-up alterations, Destiny's Child enlisted producers such as Anthony Dent, Damon Elliott, Mark J. Feist, Rob Fusari and Keybeats alongside Beyoncé Knowles, who produced all and co-wrote nearly all of the album's tracks. Their final product was an R&B and pop record incorporating genres such as dance, funk and hip hop. Its lyrical themes explore dynamics between women, self-esteem, independence and romantic relationships.
Upon its release, Survivor received generally positive reviews, mostly aimed at its production, while its balladry, length and lyrical content ignited criticism. Retrospective critical commentaries have credited the record for its impact on mainstream music of the 2000s and for serving as foundation for Knowles' eventual solo career. A global commercial success, the album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 663,000 units, becoming Destiny's Child's first and only number-one studio album on the chart. It has gone on to be certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), the album was nominated for Best R&B Album. By 2004, it had sold over 10 million copies worldwide, being among the best-selling girl group albums of all time.
Survivor produced four singles. Its title track peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top ten in 18 additional countries. In 2002, it won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. "Bootylicious" became Destiny's Child's fourth US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single and attained international success. "Emotion" became a US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hit in the wake of the September 11 attacks, while "Nasty Girl" was released only overseas and achieved moderate success. The album was further promoted with the co-headlining Total Request Live Tour (2001) and the Destiny's Child World Tour (2002). After the latter's conclusion, the group embarked on a two-year hiatus, during which each member released a solo studio album to varying levels of success.
Background and development
In July 1999, Destiny's Child released their second studio album The Writing's on the Wall. Their breakthrough record, it debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 133,000 units. In December, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson tried to split with Destiny's Child's manager Mathew Knowles, claiming that he was keeping too much of the group's profits and that he favored his daughter Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland. When the accompanying music video for "Say My Name" premiered in February 2000, Roberson and Luckett found out that they were being replaced with Michelle Williams, a former backing vocalist for Monica, and Farrah Franklin, an aspiring singer-actress. Following the lawsuit, both sides were disparaging towards each other in the media.
In July 2000, it was announced that Franklin had departed Destiny's Child a mere five months after joining. According to the group, Franklin missed a handful of promotional appearances and concerts and was asked to leave the group. However, Franklin stated that she quit because of negative energy within the group and her inability to assert any control in decision-making. The song was released as a single on August 29. A global commercial success, it became the group's third US Billboard Hot 100 and first UK Singles Chart number-one single. It was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. was also recorded there; the group decided to record it due to their longtime affinity for gospel. Knowles' intention was not to monopolize the spotlight; however, she did co-write 17 and produce all of the album's 18 tracks. She explained: "I only wanted to do like three songs... The label kept saying "Do another song, do another song, do another song". It wasn't planned. It wasn't like I said, OK, I'm going to take charge." However, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams co-wrote only one track–"Outro (DC-3) Thank You". On July 20, Farrah Franklin departed from Destiny's Child, having already recorded backing vocals for several tracks, including "Independent Women Part I". Six songs, including both parts to "Independent Women", "Nasty Girl" and the unreleased "I Tried", had been recorded by September.
Originally, the Keybeats-produced "Independent Women Part II" was recorded first as the song's album version, while the track which would become "Independent Women Part I" served as a remix. According to Williams, the song was recorded from September to November. However, in 2016, he revealed that after the "Edge of Seventeen" sample was approved, he conceived the song with Beyoncé over the phone, adding: "She was out of the country at that point, but she had the 'Bootylicious' concept in her head. That was totally her. She knew what she wanted to say. It was very urban pop angle that they were taking on the record." Both versions were recorded at the SugarHill Recording Studios, and were written and produced by Beyoncé and Errol McCalla Jr. As Survivor neared its completion in December 2000, Destiny's Child referred to their hectic schedule while recording the album, revealing they took time off recording solely on Christmas Day. While they intended to complete the album soon afterwards, the recording continued into early 2001, causing the album's release date to be postponed and its lead single "Survivor" to be delayed from January to March. Previous collaborator Rodney Jerkins, whose production "Say My Name" became one of Destiny's Child's biggest hits, had also returned to work on Survivor. He produced two tracks, including the "street-edgy", up-tempo "Girl Like Me", but neither made the final track listing. Its lyrical themes include dynamics between women, self-esteem, independence and romantic relationships. The album opens with the uptempo club track "Independent Women Part I", which encourages female empowerment and financial independence. As it was recorded for the accompanying soundtrack for Charlie's Angels (2000), it makes numerous lyrical references to the film. The album's title track features looped strings built around an "abrasive" hip hop instrumental. "Nasty Girl" features the group "hurling insults at a hip-hop harlot", It features an uncredited interpolation of Salt-N-Pepa's 1986 song "Push It". Pizzicato string-driven "Fancy" is seen as another diss track directed towards the group's former members. Beyoncé described it as "a pretty controversial yet realistic song that deals with something that happens in most families that no one wants to talk about." The album closes with "Outro (DC-3) Thank You", on which the members congratulate, praise and thank each other. The title was later altered to Survivor. Beyoncé further explained: "I thought about this joke that this radio station had, and they were saying, 'Oh, Destiny's Child is like "Survivor," trying to see which member is going to last the longest on the island,' and everyone laughed. I was like, 'Ah, that's cute, but you know what? I'm going to use that negative thing and turn it into a positive thing and try to write a great song out of it.'"
Release and promotion
Survivor was originally slated for February 13, 2001, before being postponed to April, and afterwards to its ultimate release date of May 1. The song was subsequently performed on the April 6 episode of Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, with "Emotion" on Saturday Night Live on May 5, on Late Show with David Letterman on May 10, and with "Bootylicious" on Today on May 11. The group additionally performed the album's first three singles "Survivor", "Bootylicious" and "Emotion" on The Early Show on June 6. They subsequently opened the inaugural BET Awards with "Bootylicious" on June 19, later performing the song on the August 3 episode of Top of the Pops and the September 7 Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration show. In the meantime, the group had embarked on the co-headlining Total Request Live Tour with 3LW, Dream, Eve and Nelly with the St. Lunatics, which ran throughout North America from July 18 until September 21. Afterwards, their own European tour was scheduled to run from October 24 to November 20, but was postponed in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Following the tour's postponement, Destiny's Child performed "Survivor", "Emotion" and "Gospel Medley" during the benefit concert United We Stand: What More Can I Give, led by Michael Jackson in tribute to victims of the September 11 attacks, on October 21. Within subsequent months, the group focused on the overseas promotion of Survivor, performing "Emotion" on the November 23 episode of Top of the Pops in the UK and the December 15 episode of Wetten, dass..? in Germany, "Survivor" during the Sanremo Music Festival 2002 in Italy on March 8, and "Bootylicious" at the Logie Awards of 2002 in Australia on April 28. Also, their first remix album, titled This Is the Remix, was released on March 12 and included remixes of several tracks from Survivor among other tracks; it debuted at number 29 on the US Billboard 200. Its Rotterdam show was filmed and released via video album Destiny's Child World Tour on July 8, 2003.
Singles
thumb|left|upright|The guitar [[riff from "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks (pictured) was sampled on "Bootylicious". Nicks would later appear in the song's accompanying music video, playing the sampled riff.]]
"Survivor" was released as the lead single from Survivor on March 6, 2001, to mixed critical reception. A commercial success, it became Destiny's Child's fourth consecutive US Billboard Hot 100 top-three single, peaking at number two. Internationally, the song reached the summit in Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in 15 additional countries. Despite a mixed critical response, it won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), marking Destiny's Child's third and final Grammy Award win as a group. The video was released as the group's first DVD single, which peaked at number nine on the US Top Music Videos and was certified gold by the RIAA. also being nominated for Best Pop Video and Best Group Video.
"Bootylicious" was released as the second single from Survivor on May 22, 2001. Commercially, it fared similarly to its predecessor, becoming Destiny's Child's fourth and final US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. A commercial success, it continued Destiny's Child's streak of US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles by peaking at number ten after being fueled by post-September 11 attacks airplay. Internationally, it peaked within the top ten in Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and the UK. to negative critical reception. Its Sanaa Hamri-directed accompanying music video depicts women perceived as "nasty girls" receiving transformations. In 2016, Rob Fusari, who produced several tracks from Survivor, revealed "Happy Face" was originally slated as the album's final single, but those plans were scrapped due to the song's lyrical content being deemed inappropriate in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
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| rev3Score = B+
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| rev6 = NME
| rev6Score = 7/10
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Survivor received generally favorable reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Sylvia Patterson from NME summarized the album as "Multi-platinum booty-shakers in boundary-pushing nil-shit-taking exercise", while highlighting "Independent Women Part I".
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! scope="row"| 2002
| American Music Award
| Favorite Pop/Rock Album
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! scope="row"| 2002
| Grammy Award
| Best R&B Album
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! scope="row"| 2002
| Soul Train Music Award
| Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo
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! scope="row" rowspan="2"| 2002
| TMF Award
| Best Album
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| Soul Train Lady of Soul Award
| Best R&B/Soul Album by a Group, Band or Duo
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Listings
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Listings for Survivor
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Publication
! scope="col"| List
! scope="col"| Position
! scope="col"|
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! scope="row" rowspan="7"| 2001
| Aftonbladet
| rowspan="2"| Albums of the Year
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| rowspan="2"|
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| Blender
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| The Face
| Recordings of the Year
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| Musikexpress
| Albums of the Year
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| NME
| Albums of 2001
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| OOR
| Jaarlijst 2001
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| Playlouder
| Best Albums of 2001
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! scope="row"| 2007
| The Guardian
| 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die
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! scope="row" rowspan="2"| 2009
| Adresseavisen
| Top 100 Albums of the 2000s
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| The Guardian
| OMM's Top 50 Albums of the Decade
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! scope="row"| 2010
| colspan="2"| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
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! scope="row" rowspan="1"| 2023
| Rolling Stone (Germany)
| The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
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|}
Commercial performance
In the United States, Survivor debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart dated May 19, 2001, with first-week sales of 663,000 copies. It also debuted atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling over 87,000 copies at the R&B core stores within its first week. Destiny's Child's first number-one album on both charts, it registered the highest first-week sales for any Columbia Records artist at the time. In its third week, the album descended to number three, selling 221,884 copies; in total, it spent 14 consecutive weeks within the top ten. By the end of 2001, Survivor had sold over 3.7 million copies, becoming the seventh best-selling album of the year. It was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 7, 2002. It became the first studio album by an American girl group to peak atop the UK Albums Chart and made Destiny's Child the second American girl group in history to reach the summit, following The Supremes, who did so with their greatest hits albums Greatest Hits (1967) and 20 Golden Greats (1977). with 7.8 million copies sold during the year. By November 2004, Survivor had sold over ten million copies worldwide, being the fifth best-selling girl group album of all time. Luckett and Roberson contended the line "You thought I wouldn't sell without you, sold 9 million" violated the agreement and filed another lawsuit against the group in February 2002, accusing Beyoncé, Rowland and Michelle Williams of making "deliberate disparaging, defamatory factual misrepresentations" in the song, as well as in their statements for the press surrounding the release of Survivor.
Impact and legacy
Retrospectively, Survivor has received mixed to positive critical commentary, with criticism directed towards its lyrical content, and praise towards its thematic impact on mainstream music of the 2000s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for AllMusic: "Survivor, their first album as full-fledged superstars – also their first album since most of the group disappeared due to managerial conflicts – is as contrived and calculated as a Mariah Carey record, only without the joy. This is a determined, bullheaded record, intent on proving Destiny's Child has artistic merit largely because the group survived internal strife." Its second single "Bootylicious" popularized the portmanteau term "bootylicious", a combination of the words "booty" and "delicious", although the term had already been used by Snoop Dogg on Dr. Dre's 1992 song "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" as a pejorative. As Destiny's Child brought the term's neologism of approval to prominence, it consequently entered the mainstream English language, thus being added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2004, referring to a sexually attractive woman in its definition. Following the September 11 attacks, the lead single "Survivor" received new lyrical interpretations from the public, being called a "tool for national grief in a way to show solidarity and strength". Michelle Williams was first to release a solo album, titled Heart to Yours, in April 2002. It features the "Gospel Medley" first released on Survivor. The critically acclaimed gospel record debuted at number 57 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 17,000 copies and later peaked at number-one on the Top Gospel Albums chart. It became the biggest-selling gospel album of the year, with 220,000 copies sold in the US. At the 2002 MOBO Awards, Wiliams won an award for "Best Gospel Act", before making her Broadway debut, as the lead in the musical Aida in November 2003. Although Beyoncé Knowles' solo album was initially scheduled for October 2002, its release was postponed due to the success of Kelly Rowland's collaboration with Nelly, "Dilemma". The song reached the summit of the US Billboard Hot 100, thus Rowland's pop rock-oriented solo debut Simply Deep was moved up to October from its original early 2003 release date. Simply Deep debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200, selling 77,000 units within its first week and going on to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Dilemma" additionally won Rowland her first Grammy Award outside the group, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards (2003).
Following numerous postponements, Beyoncé was the last to release a solo album. Titled Dangerously in Love, it was released in June 2003 to widespread critical acclaim. The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and registered the highest first-week sales among the members with 317,000 units. It was preceded by the lead single "Crazy in Love", which spent eight consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100. "Crazy in Love" was followed by "Baby Boy", which surpassed its predecessor's reign at the summit by one week, and the top-five hits "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl". At the 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004), Dangerously in Love and its tracks won five awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album; Beyoncé consequently tied with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones for the record of most Grammy Awards won by a woman at a single ceremony. Following the release of her sixth solo studio album Lemonade (2016), Sasha Geffen from MTV claimed "Survivor marked [Beyoncé]'s turning point from musician to global phenomenon", drawing parallels between lyrical themes of tracks from Survivor and those from Lemonade.
Track listing
Notes
- <sup></sup> signifies a co-producer
- <sup></sup> signifies a vocal producer
- <sup></sup> signifies an additional producer
- "Gospel Medley" comprises "You've Been So Good", "Now Behold the Lamb", "Jesus Loves Me" and "Total Praise".
- North American enhanced CD pressings include the video for the Brit Awards 2001 live performance of "Independent Women Part I". International enhanced CD and North American Super Audio CD pressings include the music video for "Survivor".
|2
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! scope="row"|Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 1
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|-
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! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 1
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|-
|-
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! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 1
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)
| 3
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 12
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|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Slovak Albums (IFPI)
| 5
|-
! scope="row"| South African Albums (RISA)
| 15
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|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Monthly charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| South Korean International Albums (RIAK)
| 8
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! scope="row"| Uruguayan Albums (CUD)
| 8
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 20
|-
!scope="row"| Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)
| 10
|-
! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
| 52
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 13
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
| 43
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 4
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 2
|-
! scope="row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
| 48
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 4
|-
! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 8
|-
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 44
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 11
|-
! scope="row"| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)
| 11
|-
! scope="row"| Irish Albums (IRMA)
| 5
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 14
|-
! scope="row"| South Korean International Albums (MIAK)
| 42
|-
! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
| 44
|-
! scope="row"| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
| 20
|-
! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 12
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 9
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 12
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)
| 3
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (2002)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)
| 14
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 196
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 35
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|141
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (2000–2009)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 93
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 70
|}
Centurial charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart (2001–present)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 162
|}
All-time charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+
! scope="col"| Chart
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Irish Female Albums (IRMA)
| 31
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200 (Women)
| 82
|}
Certifications
Release history
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+
! scope="col"| Region
! scope="col"| Date
! scope="col"| Format(s)
! scope="col"| Label(s)
! scope="col"|
|-
! scope="row"| Japan
| April 25, 2001
| rowspan="2"| CD
| Sony Japan
|
|-
! scope="row"| France
| April 26, 2001
| Columbia
|
|-
! scope="row"| United States
| May 1, 2001
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| South Korea
| May 2, 2001
|
| rowspan="2"| Sony
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2"| United States
| June 26, 2001
| Vinyl
| rowspan="3"| Columbia
|
|-
| January 29, 2002
| rowspan="2"| Super Audio CD
|
|-
! scope="row"| France
| March 18, 2002
|
|}
See also
- Destiny's Child discography
- List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2001
- List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 2001
- List of number-one albums of 2001 (Canada)
- List of number-one hits of 2001 (Germany)
- List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2000s
- List of UK R&B Albums Chart number ones of 2001
- List of best-selling girl group albums
- List of best-selling albums by women
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links
- Official website
- Survivor at Metacritic