Kelendria Trene “Kelly” Rowland was born February 11, 1981. She rose to fame in the late 1990s with R&B girl-group Destiny’s Child, one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time. During their hiatus, Rowland released her debut solo album Simply Deep (2002), which sold 2.5 million copies worldwide and produced the number-one single “Dilemma” with Nelly, as well as the international top-ten hit “Stole”.
Rowland also transitioned into acting, with guest appearances in television sitcoms, and starring roles in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and The Seat Filler (2004).
Following the disbandment of Destiny’s Child in 2005, she released her second album Ms. Kelly (2007), which included international hits “Like This” and “Work”. In 2009, Rowland served as a host on the first season of The Fashion Show, and was featured on David Guetta’s number-one dance hit “When Love Takes Over”.
The song’s global success influenced Rowland to explore dance music on her third album Here I Am (2011), which spawned the international top-ten hit “Commander” and US R&B/Hip-Hop number-one “Motivation”.
In 2011, she returned to television as a judge on the The X Factor UK, and in 2013, became a judge on the The X Factor US. Rowland’s fourth album Talk a Good Game (2013), which saw a return to her “R&B roots”, was released to positive reviews.
Throughout a career spanning 16 years, Rowland has sold over 27 million records as a solo artist and 60 million records with Destiny’s Child.
Currently, the single “Motivation” featuring Lil Wayne on YouTube/VEVO views exceed an impressive 59 million. Twitter followers exceed 5 million, Facebook likes surpassing 2.9 million, and Instagram followers are over 1.1 million.
She’s been honored with five Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, 15 Soul Train Awards, 4 American Music Awards, 2 MTV Video Music Awards, 1 BRIT Award, 1 BET Award, 1 NAACP Image Award, a Star on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”, and more.
She’s also accrued a timeless catalog of her own songs including the Grammy Award-winning “Dilemma” featuring Nelly, “Like This” featuring Eve, “Stole”, “Breathe Gentle” featuring Tiziana Ferro, “When Love Takes Over” featuring David Guetta, and more worldwide chart-dominating successes.
Although Kelly Rowland has a long list of accomplishments and accolades under her belt, she shows no signs of slowing down. She’s not only going to continue playing the game but winning.
“I’m very confident in everything that’s going on around me now,” she says. “I’ve been in this business long enough to have a track record that says I have something to contribute, but the key difference now is that I feel more in control. It’s a great feeling.”