Matthew Knowles is back in the music industry.
The Destiny’s Child founder and father of Beyoncé and Solange is touring the country honoring his eldest daughter’s band with an orchestral-inspired tribute show.
It starts on Friday, his birthday.
The businessman and educator, who also teaches at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, said it feels good to “get back to the momentum and momentum of the music industry.”
“Destiny’s Child: An Iconic Reimagined Tribute” is a 60-minute show in which a quintet of musicians perform reimagined versions of the group’s biggest hits, including “Say My Name,” “Independent Women” and “Survivor.”
The father of pop will also take to the stage to tell his story about his upbringing in pop and his rise to global stardom.
He promised it would be a “sophisticated” evening.
“The moment you walk into the room and see the atmosphere and the 3,000-plus candles surrounding the stage and the amazing quintet of musicians and violinist, it starts from there,” he said.
Destiny’s Child was released in 1990 and has gone through several iterations. Knowles said at one point the group had 11 members, including male rappers. They eventually became a trio, with Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, and Beyoncé as continuing members. The group released their last album in 2004 and has since focused on a solo career.
Knowles said one of the factors that made the act a global success was “practicing failure.” Unbeknownst to the group, the management had intentionally engineered glitches for the girls during rehearsals for their stage show.
“They didn’t know when the lights were going to go out, the sound was going to go out, a heel was going to snap. Anything could happen. We practiced that,” he said. “It was all planned by management,” he added.
The intention was to keep the girls prepared for the unknown. “They didn’t know that when you go on stage, the sound will be muted at some point. We did that so they wouldn’t panic,” he said.
Just in case, the singers will have songs ready to sing a cappella, he said. This sneaky tactic also came in handy on slippery stages. For example, when Michelle Williams was brought up on BET’s “106th and Park,” she said, “They were ready and almost made it their routine.”
He added, “The same thing happened with Beyoncé and Solange. During Beyoncé’s performance, Solange slipped and after that they made it a routine. It’s the best time to practice.”
Knowles’ memorial show opens on January 9th in Houston, Texas, with dates scheduled in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, and Miami.
