Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the group's three-year hiatus, Rowland released her debut solo studio album, Simply Deep (2002), which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 3 million copies worldwide. It included the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Dilemma" (with Nelly), as well as the UK top-five hits "Stole" and "Can't Nobody". Rowland also ventured into acting with starring roles in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and The Seat Filler (2005).
Following the disbanding of Destiny's Child in 2006, Rowland released her second studio album, Ms. Kelly (2007), which produced the international top-ten hits "Like This" (featuring Eve) and "Work". In 2009, she hosted the first season of The Fashion Show, and was featured on David Guetta's "When Love Takes Over", which topped the charts in several countries. Its success influenced Rowland to explore electronic dance music on her third studio album, Here I Am (2011), which spawned the UK top-ten singles "Commander" (featuring David Guetta), "Down for Whatever" and "What a Feeling", as a well as the hit electro-R&B single "Motivation" (featuring Lil Wayne). Her fourth studio album, Talk a Good Game (2013), became her third top-ten album on the US Billboard 200 chart. Rowland was a television judge on the eighth season of The X Factor UK (2011), as well as the third season of The X Factor USA (2013). She has continued her television career by hosting Chasing Destiny (2016) and starred as a coach on The Voice Australia (2017–2020). Rowland is credited with forming the girl groups Little Mix and June's Diary from her stints on The X Factor UK and Chasing Destiny respectively.
Throughout her career, Rowland has sold over 40 million records as a solo artist, and a further estimated 60 million records with Destiny's Child. Her work has earned her several awards and nominations, including five Grammy Awards, one Billboard Music Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards. Rowland has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of Destiny's Child, and as a solo artist, she has been honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Essence for her contributions to music. In 2014, Fuse ranked Rowland in their "100 Most Award-Winning Artists" list at number 20.
Early life
Kelendria Trene Rowland was born on February 11, 1981, in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the daughter of Doris Rowland-Garrison (December 6, 1947 – December 2, 2014) and Christopher Lovett. She has an older brother named Orlando. When Rowland was six, her mother left her father, who was an abusive alcoholic and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from serving in the Vietnam War, and Rowland went with her. When Rowland was seven or eight, her family relocated to Houston, where at some point she moved in with fellow Destiny's Child member Beyoncé, referring to Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles as "Mama T".
Circa the early 1990s, Rowland joined Beyoncé, Tamar Davis and LaTavia Roberson in the girl group Girl's Tyme. Girl's Tyme competed on the nationally televised talent show Star Search, but lost the competition to Skeleton Crew. Beyoncé's father Mathew Knowles reduced the sextet lineup to a quartet, adding LeToya Luckett, and began managing the group. In 1995, they signed with Elektra Records, who dropped them months later. D'wayne Wiggins then began working with the group, and they were briefly signed to his label. The group went through several name changes, including the Dolls, Something Fresh, Cliché, and Destiny before deciding upon a final moniker. Under the name Destiny's Child, the group was picked up by Columbia Records. They continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B groups of the time, such as SWV, Dru Hill, and Immature.