If there’s one woman in the entertainment world who would be so hard to measure up to, its Beyonce. Her former Destiny’s Child girl group member and longtime friend Kelly Rowland has described how difficult it was to try to have her own identity while singing and dancing alongside the 38-year-old superstar in the making for so many years. Then she had to try to measure up as a solo artist as Beyonce rose to become Queen Bey. Kelly relayed her feelings to The Voice Australia contestant Chris Sebastian, who she is coaching in the current 2020 season. She said she “tortured herself” over everything from how she dressed to the style of her songs in fear of being compared to Beyonce.
Chris told Kelly about his struggles of shaking off being in his older brother’s musical shadow. Guy Sebastian won the first Australian Idol in 2003 and went on to become a star down under. He’s also currently on The Voice Australia‘s judging panel alongside Kelly. The 39-year-old told Chris how she could relate to what he’s going through via her experience with Beyonce. They started together as teens in the group Girl’s Tyme in 1990, which morphed into Destiny’s Child in 1997.
“I know this feeling. Can you imagine what it’s like being in a group with Beyoncé?” Kelly explained to Sebastian. “I would just torture myself in my head. Like, I can’t wear this dress because they’re going to say it’s like B. Or, I can’t have a song like that because it sounds too much like B. They’re gonna compare anyways.”
Kelly went on to tell Chris, “I would be lying if I said ‘No, it’s never bothered me.’ That’s bull. There was a whole decade, if I am being completely honest, a decade where it was like the elephant in the room. It was the thing that would constantly be on my shoulder.” Even when the ladies were together in Destiny’s Child, Beyonce always got the center power position among the trio during performances and promotional material.
In 2002 Destiny’s Child went on hiatus as the ladies — Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle Williams — began solo projects. A year later, Bey dropped her iconic debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, which spawned the legendary hits Crazy in Love,” “Baby Boy,” and “Me, Myself and I.” DC reunited for one last album in 2004 called Destiny Fulfilled, then Bey ascended to her status of being one of the world’s most popular solo artists.
“This is your opportunity to carve your own path, even with him sitting in that chair down there,” Kelly encouraged Chris. While Kelly’s had some success as a solo artist, nothing can be compared to Beyonce, who is one of the most legendary performers of this century. Though Bey has given back nods to where she came from. She brought Kelly and Michelle onstage during her Coachella 2018 headlining set for a Destiny’s Child reunion. The ladies thew it back to the early 2000’s with a medley including “Lose My Breath,” “Say My Name” and “Soldier.” The women also reunited when Beyonce played the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in 2013.