'Kelly Rowland jealous of Beyoncé? Don't cry, Kelly – you're in it for the long run' - article

dontdiedontkillanyon
dontdiedontkillanyon Members Posts: 10,172 ✭✭✭✭✭
Kelly Rowland jealous of Beyoncé? Don't cry, Kelly – you're in it for the long run
Kelly Rowland is not the first performer to live in the shadow of a more successful friend or sibling. But as I found when my band met the Kaiser Chiefs, feelings of envy can be a strong motivator

Posted by
Kele Okereke
Thursday 6 June 2013 17.32 BST
guardian.co.uk

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Former Destiny's Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé: there have long been rumours about tensions between them. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year you will have spotted the unmistakably coy face of Mrs Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter peering at from you from every advertising site in the country. The transition from girl-band member to bona fide pop icon has been seamless. With more than 100 million album sales and a crowning Super Bowl performance, interest in the star has never been higher. But spare a thought for her Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.

Last week during a live performance in Washington, Rowland broke down while singing her new single ? Laundry. In it she talks candidly about growing up in Beyoncé's shadow.

"When my sister was on stage/ Killing it like a ? / I was in rage/ Feeling it like a ? ," she sings. "Bird in a cafe/ You'd never know what I was dealing with/ Went our separate ways but I was happy she was killin' it/ Bittersweet, she was up, I was down/ No lie, I feel good for her but what do I do now?"

It's hard not to feel sorry for Kelly. She's an accomplished artist, singer and TV personality in her own right. She has released four solo albums and has amassed more than 24m record sales but compared with Beyoncé's career trajectory you can see why Kelly might be more than a little upset.

There have long been rumours about tensions between Knowles and Rowland dating as far back as the Destiny's Child days, when Rowland was managed by Knowles's father, the formidable Matthew Knowles. Back then, accusations were made that Beyoncé was always prioritised in band decisions. So in 2009, after the Destiny's Child split, Rowland ended her professional relationship with Matthew Knowles and the rumour mill went into overdrive. Kelly has gone on record to refute claims of animosity between her and Beyoncé, claiming that Beyoncé is like a sister to her and that will never change. But after the video footage of Rowland went, viral people were left wondering if she's telling the truth.

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Cheryl (left) and Nadine Coyle in Girls Aloud: Nadine was the stronger singer. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

Rivalry in the pop world is not new, it's the basis of the industry. But in this clip there is something so defeated in Kelly's body language as she breaks down for all the world to see. This sort of emotional candour is kind of new for the pop world, though; usually these sort of scenes play out backstage. But there are some examples where rivalries between band members and family have erupted in public.

Look at the brave face put on by Nadine Coyle during Cheryl Cole's emergence as Britain's sweetheart. As anyone who has ever seen Girls Aloud in concert will attest, Nadine always fancied herself as the lead singer of the group, with her generous syrupy vocal embellishments. She knew she was the strongest singer in the group and on paper the crown was hers to snatch. She moved to LA first, got a celebrity boyfriend first and even got dangerously skinny first. Had it not been for Cheryl's timely placement on The X Factor, it would have been her year. But it was not to be, the nation fell in love with the doe-eyed girl from Newcastle and Nadine was left to put on a brave face. She released her own solo album Insatiable in a bizarre distribution deal with Tesco to a world of indifference. Now, in a post-Girls Aloud split, the gloves are off with the other band members attacking Nadine for saying the split was not her decision. Not to be dissuaded, Nadine is now rumoured to be putting her own girl group together to fill the the "void" that the passing of Girl's Aloud has created .

Comments

  • dontdiedontkillanyon
    dontdiedontkillanyon Members Posts: 10,172 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Kylie-and-Dannii-Minogue-010.jpg
    Kylie and Dannii Minogue: Danni’s musical career never quite hit the same high notes that her sister’s did. Photograph: David Fisher/DFS

    Another example is one of my favourite under/over achieving sibling combos, the Minogue sisters. It has taken years for Danni to reach this level of superstardom, even though she started off in show business way before Kylie did. Personally, I'm a fan of tracks such as 2003's Who Do You Love Now? and the 2004 sleeper hit Put The Needle On It, but it's safe to say that Danni's musical career never quite hit the same high notes that her sister's did. And again, if it wasn't for Simon Cowell's X Factor-shaped wand, Dannii would have been destined to be "Kylie's younger sister for the rest of her life".

    The pair have publicly refuted any bad blood, and in 2010 Dannii told the Guardian, "All those years of articles, of reading, 'She's in her sister's shadow,' or whatever – of course, I see that stuff, but it was never how things really were. My sister and I are really close, and we always have been." Kylie's 2008 documentary White Diamond tells a different story. In it, Kylie's stylist and ? "husband", William Baker, makes a tearful comment about how her recovery from cancer has brought Dannii and her sister closer together. Although that line of conversation is shut down quickly by Kylie's withering stare, it is clear that there is more to their relationship that meets the eye.

    It's not uncommon for friends or family to feel this way when watching friends succeed from afar. Research by Tesser states an unfortunate aspect of human nature: jealousy is more intense when someone close to us does well in a domain in which we want to do well. In Spike Jonze's excellent Adaptation, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman suffers from a painful case of writer's block only to watch his twin brother Donald's first attempt at scriptwriting sell for six figures. It's hard not to feel the burn of that, but we must let ourself feel the burn, it's all right. Jealousy is a bitter fruit but it can also be the strongest motivation.

    I remember in 2004 when my band Bloc Party were preparing to put out our first record, Silent Alarm, we were touring, meeting lots of bands who were slated to release albums in 2005. I remember really getting on with the Kaiser Chiefs, they were funny and charming. They reminded me of a Parklife-era Blur meets Super Furry Animals and, although the music wasn't my thing, we became friends. They ascended into pop superstardom with their million-selling Employment album and a volley of truly remarkable singles. While we couldn't get a single on the radio, these guys seemed to be all over it. I couldn't help but feel envious but I let those feelings motivate me. We wrote Two More Years, a song about longing in the face of frustration. It went on to become our biggest radio hit and it opened many doors.

    As the words of the Danish proverb go: "Envy is its own torturer." So don't cry, Kelly. There is always going to be someone more successful than you, richer than you are. Stay in your lane and keep doing you. ? Laundry has been praised for its candour and your buttery smooth vocal. Let Beyoncé carry on her Tina Turner meets MJ thing and take a leaf out of Solange's, Beyonce's sister's, book. Remember you are in this for the long run, you must keep on. And remember, you might not be Beyoncé, but it could be a lot worse, you could be Michelle.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jun/06/kelly-rowland-jealous-beyonce
  • usmarin3
    usmarin3 Members Posts: 38,013 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Someone has to be the Bobby Brown of the group. lol

    Kelly has carved out a nice niche for herself but her problem has always been she can't pick songs or put together a good album. Plus she lacks that ''it'' factor that all superstars possess, especially in groups (MJ, Bobby Brown,etc). It's not Beyonce's fault Kelly ain't getting shine when Kelly can't even outshine people like Keyshia Cole, etc.
  • 9TRAY
    9TRAY Members Posts: 6,830 ✭✭✭✭✭
  • dalyricalbandit
    dalyricalbandit Members, Moderators Posts: 67,918 Regulator
    smash both raw
  • mryounggun
    mryounggun Members Posts: 13,451 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I actually copped her album yesterday. But yeah, ? is natural to be jealous of a more successful friend or relative, as long as it's not malicious.

    As a sidenote, not that Beyonce ain't ba, but if she was on the other side of the room and Kelly was behind her...I'd walk right past her ass and go spit at Kelly.
  • life_fulfilled
    life_fulfilled Members Posts: 25
    edited December 2013
    It was more than just about envy, she was speaking about her abusive relationship. Really good album and voice. Much underrated.