LeToya Luckett

LeToya Nicole Luckett (born March 11, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress.

Luckett was born on March 11, 1981, in Houston, Texas to Pamela and Darrell Luckett.

She is the older of two children, with a younger brother named Gavin.

She grew up singing in her local Brentwood Baptist Church.

She also took vocal lessons to become an opera singer.

Her father, who was also a singer, was very proud of his daughter's vocal talents and tried to get her in the music business.

Luckett was given the chance to sing her first solo at the age of five.

"The lady just gave me the mic one Sunday and I sang," she recalled.

Shortly thereafter, she joined the children's choir and began performing in plays at her elementary school.

One day, she walked to her desk in class to find a girl sitting there.

Luckett asked her teacher to remove the girl, Beyoncé Knowles, from her assigned seat.

They later became friends and Luckett was invited to join Beyoncé's singing group Girl's Tyme, which later became Destiny's Child.

She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time.

As a member of Destiny's Child, she achieved four US Top 10 hit singles, "No, No, No", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Say My Name" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'", and won two Grammy Awards.

In 1993, Luckett joined Beyoncé Knowles, LaTavia Roberson, and Kelly Rowland to complete the Houston-based R&B group, Destiny's Child.

The roles of the group consisted with Knowles as lead vocalist, Rowland as second-lead vocalist alongside Roberson and Luckett as background vocalists with Roberson as alto (and spokesperson) adding the low notes and Luckett as the soprano adding the high notes to the group's harmony, with occasional leads too.

After being signed and later dropped by Elektra Records in 1995, the group began working with D'wayne Wiggins and eventually signed with Columbia Records in 1997, but not before signing with group manager Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé's father.

According to the E! Television Special, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Mathew forced the girls to sign management agreements with him before they could sign with the label.

Luckett's mother requested the contracts be reviewed by an attorney, but Mathew denied this request.

However, Luckett eventually signed with him and joined the group.

After graduating from the Houston club scene, the group opened for established acts such as Dru Hill, SWV, and Immature, was included on the Men in Black movie soundtrack, and released their 1998 self-titled debut album Destiny's Child.

The album spawned two singles: the platinum "No, No, No Part II" (featuring Wyclef Jean) and "With Me".

Subsequently, the group made it on the soundtrack album of the romantic drama Why Do Fools Fall in Love with the song "Get on the Bus" (featuring Timbaland), and later toured as an opening act on TLC's "Fanmail Tour".

In 1999, the group released their second album, The Writing's on the Wall. The album became one of the biggest selling albums released by a female group, and was certified eight times platinum in the USA.

As opposed to the first album, Luckett had more contribution to the second album in terms of co-writing.

The album spawned four hit singles: "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Bug a Boo", "Say My Name", and "Jumpin' Jumpin'".

The two singles "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name" were also nominated for Grammy awards, which "Say My Name" won in two different categories.

The album had also been released in a "Houston Special Edition" which included a bonus track, where Luckett sung lead along with the other members, titled "Can't Help Myself".

In late 1999, in the midst of the group's success and rise, Luckett and Roberson asserted that they wanted their own manager because of the increasing lack of communication with manager Mathew Knowles.

The pair said they never wanted to fire Knowles, but wanted to secure outside management to represent them.

In the 2000s, she began her solo career after leaving the group and signing a record deal with Capitol Records.

Her solo debut album, LeToya (2006), debuted at number-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA, that same year.

The lead single, "Torn", reached the Top 40 in the U.S., and set records on BET's top ten countdown show 106 & Park. Luckett was awarded Top Songwriter at the 2006 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards, and was nominated for Outstanding New Artist at the 2007 NAACP Image Awards.

Luckett's second solo album, Lady Love (2009), debuted at number-one on the U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Luckett has since become an actress.

She has starred in the feature films Killers (2010) and From the Rough (2011), and landed a leading role in the movie Preacher's Kid (2010).

She also had a recurring role in the OWN series Greenleaf, and appeared on the second season of the HBO TV series Treme, and on the third season of the VH1 TV series Single Ladies.

Luckett returned to music in 2017, releasing her third studio album, Back 2 Life (2017), which marked her first independent release.

The album was preceded by two singles: "Back 2 Life" and "Used To".

Luckett has sold over 25 million records with Destiny's Child on the group's first two albums and singles.