LeToya Luckett
Born: March 11, 1981
Birthplace: Houston, TX
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
LeToya Nicole Luckett‐Walker is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is known as a member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, with which she won two Grammy Awards and released many successful commercial recordings. Luckett has sold over 25 million records with Destiny's Child as a featured vocalist on the group's first two albums and singles.
Luckett grew up singing in her local Brentwood Baptist Church. She also took vocal lessons to become an opera singer. Her father, a singer, was very proud of his daughter's vocal talents and tried to get her into the music business. Luckett is the older of two children. Luckett was given a chance to sing her first solo at five.
One day, she walked to her desk in class to find a girl sitting in her seat. Luckett asked her teacher to remove the girl (who turned out to be Beyoncé Knowles) from her assigned seat. They later became friends, and she was invited to join Beyoncé's singing group Girls Tyme, which later became Destiny's Child.
Luckett began her solo career after signing a record deal with Capitol Records. Her solo debut album, LeToya (2006), topped the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart in July 2006 and was certified platinum by the RIAA in December 2006. The single "Torn" achieved records on BET's top ten countdowns show 106 & Park.
Luckett has since become an actress. She was the star of the movie Preacher's Kid. She's part of the cast of the feature films Killers and From the Rough and had a recurring role in the second season of the HBO TV series Treme and one-third season of the VH1 TV series Single Ladies.
She also had a recurring role in the OWN series “Greenleaf.”
On May 12, 2017, Luckett released her third studio album.
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In 1993, LeToya Luckett joined Knowles, LaTavia Roberson, and Kelly Rowland to complete the Houston-based R&B group Destiny's Child.
The roles of the group consisted of Knowles as lead vocalist, Rowland as a second-lead vocalist, and 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, however occasional leads too.
After being signed and later dropped by Elektra Records, the group eventually signed with Columbia Records in 1997, but not before signing with Mathew Knowles, the group's manager (and also Beyoncé Knowles' father). According to the E! Television Special, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Knowles forced the girls to sign with him before they could sign with the label. Luckett's mother requested an attorney review the contracts, but Knowles denied the 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 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 comedy 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" and Christina Aguilera's debut tour.
In 1999, the group released their second album, The Writings 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" was 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 sang lead alongside all other members entitled "Can't Help Myself."
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Although Torn was still receiving airplay, her second single, "She Don't" was released to radio, and the video premiered on BET's Access Granted in July 2006, featuring Luckett's ex-boyfriend, Slim Thug. The single received moderate success, reaching number 17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
In November 2006, "Obvious" was selected as the third single. According to Billboard, the song had a 94% chance of becoming a hit, but due to the merger of Capitol Records and Virgin Records, all promotional money was frozen, therefore the single was never officially released.
Luckett was also named "One of the Best New Artists of 2006" by AOL Music, number two on Rap-Up magazines' Top 5 Breakthrough Artists of 2006, and received multiple nominations from the NAACP, the Soul Train Music Awards, and the Teen Choice Awards.
BET promoted Luckett on 106 & Park, The Center, The Black Carpet, and with a three-part reality series special called The H-Town Chick which aired from May to July 2006. The series chronicled Luckett's experiences during her summer promotional tour and insight about her life since Destiny's Child.
BET also hosted a contest that gave fans the opportunity to decide the final outcome of the "Torn" video. Cingular hosted a lip-sync contest that awarded those who best performed "Torn" in an online submitted video.
In addition to a nationwide radio tour, club performances, a brief European and Asian appearances, Luckett participated in the 2006 "Pantene Total You" Tour, the "Cingular Live in Concert" series, and was invited by Mary J. Blige to join her summer tour, The Breakthrough Experience Tour, as her opening act.
Luckett's second solo album was released on August 25, 2009 Production for Lady Love originally began in 2007, with a release scheduled several times in 2008. However this was postponed due to lack of funding related to the Capitol Records and Virgin Records merger that had earlier affected the release of her third single "Obvious".
In early 2009, the release date for Lady Love was announced to be May 19, 2009, then pushed to June 16, and finally set to August 24, 2009. Amidst much anticipation for the album release, Luckett released a five-track sampler on May 19, 2009.
The sampler features first single "Not Anymore" and 1 minute 30 second snippets of "Regret", "She Ain't Got...", "Lady Love" and "Matter". The album was released to CD and music download on August 25, 2009, in the US and worldwide a day earlier. An explicit version of the album (bearing a Parental Advisory label) was also made available.
To celebrate the album's release, LeToya hosted an album-release party at Cain in New York City on August 27, 2009.
"Not Anymore", the lead single, was produced by Bei Maejor and co-produced and written by Ne-Yo.
Released in February 2009, it became the most added song at urban radio, debuting at number ninety-eight on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart before peaking at number eighteen and just missing the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number 107. A music video for the single was shot on February 13, 2009.
Directed by Bryan Barber, the music video is set in the 1960s and is split into 3 sections/time periods – 1961, 1964 and 1968. The sets, costumes and props change accordingly in each section to show the trends, fashions and styles of those particular years.
In 2010, Luckett became the new face of Luster's Hair Care replacing Karyn White. She appeared on the product line's boxes, billboards and commercials.
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In 2003, Luckett became the owner of Lady Elle Boutique, an upscale women's boutique. She originally opened this clothing boutique in the Uptown Park shopping center in her hometown of Houston, Texas, as Lady L Boutique but later renamed it Lady Elle Boutique. In 2008, the singer opened the store's second location in The Galleria in Houston, Texas.
After her first solo album was released, Luckett became involved in philanthropic activity. She has participated in events like the "Women in Entertainment Empowerment Summit." She was also part of the national tour of the "Hip-Hop Summit Action Network ‘Get Your Money Right’ a Financial Empowerment Summit."
She visits schools to motivate and encourage children to study and further their education after graduation. She also speaks on the subject of violence and domestic abuse.