''Survivor'' is the third studio album by American pop group
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...
. It was released on April 25, 2001, by
. As their breakthrough second studio album ''
The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999) became a rising commercial success, Destiny's Child faced the controversial departure of original members
LeToya Luckett and
LaTavia Roberson, who were replaced with
Farrah Franklin and
Michelle Williams, in February 2000. Soon afterwards, they commenced production of their third studio album, tentatively titled ''Independent Women''.
Mere five months after joining, Franklin departed from the group in July, and "
Independent Women Part I" was subsequently released as a single from the accompanying soundtrack for the film ''
Charlie's Angels'' (2000). The song became a global commercial success and the group's third US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one single. Retitling the album ''Survivor'' in reference to the turmoil surrounding their line-up alterations, Destiny's Child enlisted producers such as
Anthony Dent,
Damon Elliott,
Mark J. Feist,
Rob Fusari and
Keybeats alongside
Beyoncé Knowles, who produced all and co-wrote nearly all of the album's tracks. Their final product was an
R&B and pop record incorporating genres such as dance,
funk and
hip hop. Its lyrical themes explore dynamics between women, self-esteem, independence and romantic relationships.
Upon its release, ''Survivor'' received generally positive reviews, mostly aimed at its production, while its balladry, length and lyrical content ignited criticism. Retrospective critical commentaries have credited the record for its impact on mainstream music of the 2000s and for serving as foundation for Knowles' eventual solo career. A global commercial success, the album debuted atop the US
''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 663,000 units, becoming Destiny's Child's first and only number-one studio album on the chart. It has gone on to be certified
quadruple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA). At the
44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), the album was nominated for
Best R&B Album. By 2004, it had sold over 12 million copies worldwide, being among the
best-selling girl group albums of all time.
''Survivor'' produced four singles. Its
title track peaked at number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top ten in 18 additional countries. In 2002, it won the
Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. "
Bootylicious" became Destiny's Child's fourth US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one single and attained international success. "
Emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
" became a US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top-ten hit in the wake of the
September 11 attacks, while "
Nasty Girl" was released only overseas and achieved moderate success. The album was further promoted with the co-headlining
Total Request Live Tour (2001) and the
Destiny's Child World Tour (2002). After the latter's conclusion, the group embarked on a two-year hiatus, during which each member released a solo studio album to varying levels of success.
Background and development
In July 1999, Destiny's Child released their second studio album ''
The Writing's on the Wall''. Their breakthrough record, it debuted at number six on the US
''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 133,000 units.
In December,
LeToya Luckett and
LaTavia Roberson tried to split with Destiny's Child's manager
Mathew Knowles, claiming that he was keeping too much of the group's profits and that he favored his daughter
Beyoncé Knowles and
Kelly Rowland.
When the accompanying music video for "
Say My Name" premiered in February 2000, Roberson and Luckett found out that they were being replaced with
Michelle Williams, a former backing vocalist for
Monica, and
Farrah Franklin, an aspiring singer-actress.
On March 15, Roberson and Luckett filed a lawsuit against Mathew Knowles and their former bandmates for breach of partnership and fiduciary duties.
Following the lawsuit, both sides were disparaging towards each other in the media.
However, the group's prominence and commercial success burgeoned, aided by "Say My Name", which peaked atop the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''The Writing's on the Wall'' subsequently registered a significant rise in sales,
ascending towards a new peak at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200.
In July 2000, it was announced that Franklin had departed Destiny's Child a mere five months after joining. According to the group, Franklin missed a handful of promotional appearances and concerts and was asked to leave the group. However, Franklin stated that she quit because of negative energy within the group and her inability to assert any control in decision-making.
The group had already begun recording material for their third studio album, with Franklin performing backing vocals on several tracks. Among those was "
Independent Women Part I", which was recorded for the accompanying soundtrack for the 2000 film ''
Charlie's Angels''.
The song was released as a single on August 29. A global commercial success, it became the group's third US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and first
UK Singles Chart number-one single.
It was nominated for
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media at the
43rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Towards the end of 2000, Roberson and Luckett dropped the portion of their lawsuit aimed at Beyoncé and Rowland in exchange for a settlement, though they continued the action against Mathew Knowles. As part of the agreement, both sides were prohibited from speaking about each other publicly.
Recording and production
The recording sessions for ''Survivor'' commenced in May 2000 at the
SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston, where most of the album was recorded. "Gospel Medley", which Destiny's Child had previewed during several public appearances throughout 2000, was also recorded there;
the group decided to record it due to their longtime affinity for
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
.
As on the group's previous records, their manager
Mathew Knowles served as the executive producer.
Initial tracks recorded for the album were in the vein of "
Jumpin', Jumpin'", which was released as the fourth and final single from ''The Writing's on the Wall'' within that period, to tremendous commercial success. However, as the recording progressed, the group gradually added more depth to their work as there were "so many people copping
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
sound, it was necessary to change things up a bit."
After emerging as the focal point of Destiny's Child, Knowles assumed more control by taking a greater hand in songwriting and even producing some of the album herself.
Knowles' intention was not to monopolize the spotlight; however, she did co-write 17 and produce all of the album's 18 tracks. She explained: "I only wanted to do like three songs... The label kept saying "Do another song, do another song, do another song". It wasn't planned. It wasn't like I said, OK, I'm going to take charge."
However,
Kelly Rowland and
Michelle Williams co-wrote only one track–"Outro (DC-3) Thank You".
On July 20,
Farrah Franklin departed from Destiny's Child, having already recorded backing vocals for several tracks, including "
Independent Women Part I".
The group embarked on
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
's tour
Christina Aguilera in Concert as an opening act on July 31, touring until October and simultaneously recording the album. Six songs, including both parts to "Independent Women", "
Nasty Girl" and the unreleased "I Tried", had been recorded by September.
Originally, the
Keybeats-produced "Independent Women Part II" was recorded first as the song's album version, while the track which would become "Independent Women Part I" served as a remix.
However, their roles were reversed as the group was offered to record material for the accompanying soundtrack to ''
Charlie's Angels'' (2000), a film adaption of the 1976–1981
television series of the same title. They re-recorded "Independent Women" and enlisted first-time collaborators
Trackmasters to produce the track, altering the original's lyrics to suit the ''Charlie's Angels'' theme.
Cory Rooney, who co-wrote and produced the re-recording, said it took only 15 minutes for him and the Trackmasters to create the instrumental track.
Aside from the SugarHill Recording Studios, part one was recorded at the Lobo Studios in
Deer Park, New York and the TK Studios in Honolulu, while part two was recorded at the
Chung King Studios in New York City and the 24/7 Studios in Houston.
The
Anthony Dent-produced
title track was inspired by a pun a radio station had made about the fact that three members had already left Destiny's Child, comparing the group to the reality competition television series ''
Survivor''. Knowles felt inspired to use the negative comment and turn its context positive by writing a song out of it.
According to Williams, the song was recorded from September to November.
It was recorded at the Chase Studios in Atlanta–where fellow Dent production was also recorded–and, alongside numerous other tracks, at
the Enterprise Studios in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...
.

Beyoncé claimed to have written "
Bootylicious" on a plane flight to London while listening to the song "
Edge of Seventeen" by
Stevie Nicks, when the word "bootylicious" popped into her head.
Rob Fusari disputed the claim in 2010, stating he himself had the idea for the song and had wanted to use a guitar riff from
Survivor's 1982 song "
Eye of the Tiger" but, after not being able to find it, used a similar riff from "Edge of Seventeen".
However, in 2016, he revealed that after the "Edge of Seventeen" sample was approved, he conceived the song with Beyoncé over the phone, adding: "She was out of the country at that point, but she had the 'Bootylicious' concept in her head. That was totally her. She knew what she wanted to say. It was very urban pop angle that they were taking on the record."
Once the group decided to record "Bootylicious", Fusari wanted to remove the sample, explaining: "I figured I'd put the guitar loop on there temporarily, and later go into the studio with a guitar and replay it, because I'd learned, after sampling
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
's "
I Wish" for
Will Smith's "
Wild Wild West," that I didn't want to lose 50% of the publishing. I vividly remember telling Mathew Knowles, "Mathew, you got to book me into your studio and let me replay that riff." It was Guitar 101! One note!"; however, Knowles refused.
Dan Workman, who engineered several tracks from ''Survivor'', commented on the recording sessions: "Beyoncé would be driving over to the studio listening to all these tracks that had been sent to her, and she would pick out her favorite. When she got here, she would immediately start writing lyrics for the song and finish it right there in front of me. For the song "Bootylicious" she wrote all the lyrics for it right in
ugarHill Recording Studios'Studio A. Then she taught the song to Kelly and Michelle, and all three of them worked on the vocals together."
D'wayne Wiggins, who wrote "Fancy" with Beyoncé and
J. R. Rotem, said Destiny's Child would carefully select lyrics for the songs, adjusting them to suit the group. According to Wiggins, they would "just take a song and dissect it and put it back together again. For "Fancy," it took
nlyabout 30 or 45 minutes to change the hook."
Rotem reflected on the song's simple instrumentation, revealing he created beats solely using a keyboard and a drum machine.
The song was recorded at the Digital Services in Houston, with additional recording at the House of Music in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
.
Mark J. Feist, who produced "
Emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
", changed the arrangement and production of
Samantha Sang
Cheryl Lau Sang (born 5 August 1951), known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in ...
's
disco
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
-
soul 1977
original version into a contemporary ballad.
Beyoncé would re-record "
Dangerously in Love" with a modified arrangement for her 2003
debut solo studio album of the same title.
Both versions were recorded at the SugarHill Recording Studios, and were written and produced by Beyoncé and
Errol McCalla Jr. As ''Survivor'' neared its completion in December 2000, Destiny's Child referred to their hectic schedule while recording the album, revealing they took time off recording solely on Christmas Day. While they intended to complete the album soon afterwards, the recording continued into early 2001, causing the album's release date to be postponed and its lead single "Survivor" to be delayed from January to March.
During the album's production, Rowland recorded her debut solo recording "Angel".
Produced by Beyoncé, Fusari and
Falonte Moore–who wrote and produced "Bootylicious", "Apple Pie à la Mode" and "Happy Face"–the track appeared on the
accompanying soundtrack for the 2001 film ''
Down to Earth''. Previous collaborator
Rodney Jerkins, whose production "
Say My Name" became one of Destiny's Child's biggest hits, had also returned to work on ''Survivor''. He produced two tracks, including the "street-edgy", up-tempo "Girl Like Me", but neither made the final track listing.
Music and lyrics
''Survivor'' is predominantly an
R&B and pop record exploring genres such as
hip hop,
funk and dance.
Its lyrical themes include dynamics between women, self-esteem, independence and romantic relationships.
The album opens with the uptempo
club track "
Independent Women Part I", which encourages female empowerment and financial independence. As it was recorded for the accompanying soundtrack for ''
Charlie's Angels'' (2000), it makes numerous lyrical references to the film.
The album's
title track features looped strings built around an "abrasive" hip hop instrumental.
Lyrically, it's considered a "prolonged and rather vindictive attack" on the former members of Destiny's Child–
LeToya Luckett,
LaTavia Roberson and
Farrah Franklin.
The "blinding
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
-like R&B-
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
odyssey" "
Bootylicious" features a lyrical response to those who had criticized
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
's weight gain, against a prominent guitar
riff sample from
Stevie Nicks' 1981 song "
Edge of Seventeen".
"
Nasty Girl" features the group "hurling insults at a hip-hop harlot",
while dismissing "classless" women altogether.
It features an uncredited interpolation of
Salt-N-Pepa's 1986 song "
Push It".
Pizzicato string-driven "Fancy" is seen as another
diss track directed towards the group's former members.
Avant-funk
Avant-funk (also called mutant disco in the early 1980s) is a music style in which artists combine funk or disco rhythms with an avant-garde or art rock mentality. Its most prominent era occurred in the late 1970s and 1980s among post-punk and ...
track "Apple Pie à la Mode" features "percolating" beats and harmonies,
while the dance track "Sexy Daddy" is infused with discordant harmonies and "thundering"
ragga beats.
"Independent Women Part II" sonically differs from its counterpart, featuring modified lyrics against a cartoonish
bounce background.
The "sunny day" pop track "Happy Face" promotes self-esteem; Sylvia Patterson from ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' classified its genre as "
cajun-R&B-
yodel-pop".
A string of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
s subsequently appears, including a "slow jam"
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of
Samantha Sang
Cheryl Lau Sang (born 5 August 1951), known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in ...
's 1977 song "
Emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
",
as well as the "soft" "
Dangerously in Love" and the
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
love song "Brown Eyes".
Brian Hiatt from
MTV described the latter as "a gently harmonized love song, with production reminiscent of the
Janet Jackson hit "
Again.""
"The Story of Beauty" lyrically differs from the rest of ''Survivor'', telling a story about a victim of
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
; it was based on a fan who wrote a letter to the group. Beyoncé described it as "a pretty controversial yet realistic song that deals with something that happens in most families that no one wants to talk about."
A cappella
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
track "Gospel Medley" comprises the Beyoncé-written "You've Been So Good",
Kirk Franklin's "Now Behold the Lamb", the
Christian hymn "
Jesus Loves Me", and
Richard Smallwood's "
Total Praise".
The album closes with "Outro (DC-3) Thank You", on which the members congratulate, praise and thank each other.
Title and packaging
Originally titled ''Independent Women'' after "
Independent Women Part I", the album was later retitled ''Survivors'', as Destiny's Child branded themselves "survivors" in reference to the
turmoil that had coincided with the group throughout 2000.
The title was later altered to ''Survivor''.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
further explained: "I thought about this joke that this radio station had, and they were saying, 'Oh, Destiny's Child is like "
Survivor," trying to see which member is going to last the longest on the island,' and everyone laughed. I was like, 'Ah, that's cute, but you know what? I'm going to use that negative thing and turn it into a positive thing and try to write a great song out of it.'"
The
cover artwork for ''Survivor'' was photographed by Rod Spicer, with the group styled by Beyoncé's mother
Tina Knowles.
Biographer Daryl Easlea noted the cover "showing the group now as women rather than the girls of the previous sleeves".
The album's booklet included a photograph of the members looking "triumphal" standing on rocks on a
desert island, inspired by the reality television series ''Survivor'', as a reference to the album's title and
title track.
Release and promotion
''Survivor'' was originally slated for February 13, 2001,
before being postponed to April,
and afterwards to its ultimate release date of May 1.
Its promotional activities commenced on February 28, when Destiny's Child performed the lead single "
Survivor" for the first time at the
2001 Soul Train Music Awards. The song was subsequently performed on the April 6 episode of ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' in the United Kingdom,
with "
Emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
" on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' on May 5, on ''
Late Show with David Letterman'' on May 10, and with "
Bootylicious" on ''
Today'' on May 11. The group additionally performed the album's first three singles "Survivor", "Bootylicious" and "Emotion" on ''
The Early Show'' on June 6. They subsequently opened the
inaugural BET Awards with "Bootylicious" on June 19, later performing the song on the August 3 episode of ''Top of the Pops'' and the September 7
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration show.
In the meantime, the group had embarked on the co-headlining
Total Request Live Tour with
3LW,
Dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...
,
Eve
Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...
and
Nelly with the
St. Lunatics, which ran throughout North America from July 18 until September 21. Afterwards, their own European tour was scheduled to run from October 24 to November 20, but was postponed in the wake of the
September 11 attacks.
Following the tour's postponement, Destiny's Child performed "Survivor", "Emotion" and "Gospel Medley" during the benefit concert
United We Stand: What More Can I Give, led by
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
in tribute to victims of the September 11 attacks, on October 21. Within subsequent months, the group focused on the overseas promotion of ''Survivor'', performing "Emotion" on the November 23 episode of ''Top of the Pops'' in the UK and the December 15 episode of ''
Wetten, dass..?'' in Germany,
"Survivor" during the
Sanremo Music Festival 2002 in Italy on March 8, and "Bootylicious" at the
Logie Awards of 2002 in Australia on April 28. Also, their first
remix album, titled ''
This Is the Remix'', was released on March 12 and included remixes of several tracks from ''Survivor'' among other tracks; it debuted at number 29 on the US
''Billboard'' 200.
The postponed Destiny's Child World Tour commenced on April 29, being expanded from solely Europe to Oceania and Japan as well, and finished on June 24.
Its
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
show was filmed and released via video album ''
Destiny's Child World Tour'' on July 8, 2003.
Singles

"
Survivor" was released as the
lead single from ''Survivor'' on March 6, 2001, to mixed critical reception. A commercial success, it became Destiny's Child's fourth consecutive US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 top-three single, peaking at number two.
The digital single was certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) in July 2020.
Internationally, the song reached the summit in Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in 15 additional countries. Despite a mixed critical response, it won
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the
44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), marking Destiny's Child's third and final
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
win as a group.
Its
Darren Grant-directed accompanying music video depicts the members as shipwreck survivors on a
desert island.
The video was released as the group's first
DVD single, which peaked at number nine on the US
Top Music Videos and was certified gold by the RIAA.
At the
2001 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won
Best R&B Video, also being nominated for
Best Pop Video and
Best Group Video.
"
Bootylicious" was released as the second single from ''Survivor'' on May 22, 2001. Commercially, it fared similarly to its predecessor, becoming Destiny's Child's fourth and final US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one single.
The digital single was certified platinum by the RIAA in July 2020.
Internationally, the song reached the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Its
Matthew Rolston-directed accompanying music video showcases the group performing numerous of
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
's choreographies and features
Stevie Nicks playing the guitar riff sampled from her song "
Edge of Seventeen".
"
Emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
" was released as the third single from ''Survivor'' on September 4, 2001. A commercial success, it continued Destiny's Child's streak of US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top-ten singles by peaking at number ten after being fueled by post-
September 11 attacks airplay.
Internationally, it peaked within the top ten in Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and the UK.
Its
Francis Lawrence-directed accompanying music video features the members' respective situations through a triple-split screen; Beyoncé deals with an adulterous boyfriend, Kelly Rowland deals with separation from her boyfriend, while Michelle Williams deals with the death of her grandmother.
"
Nasty Girl" was released as the fourth and final single from ''Survivor'' outside North America on March 4, 2002, to negative critical reception.
A moderate commercial success, it peaked at number ten in Australia and within the top 40 in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Its
Sanaa Hamri-directed accompanying music video depicts women perceived as "nasty girls" receiving transformations. In 2016,
Rob Fusari, who produced several tracks from ''Survivor'', revealed "Happy Face" was originally slated as the album's final single, but those plans were scrapped due to the song's lyrical content being deemed inappropriate in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Critical reception
''Survivor'' received generally favorable reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
upon its release. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average
In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 63 out of 100, based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Writing for ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'',
David Browne praised the record, calling it "the divas' premature, but inevitable growing pains album."
''
Spin'' commented that "''Survivor'' is relentlessly inventive in its recombinations."
Ethan Brown from ''
New York'' was less impressed, writing: "All fifteen tracks are one-dimensional disses and dismissals of scantily clad women, vengeful boyfriends, and the group's assorted doubters." Sylvia Patterson from ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' summarized the album as "Multi-platinum booty-shakers in boundary-pushing nil-shit-taking exercise", while highlighting "Independent Women Part I".
Natalie Nichols from ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' described it as a "generic hip-hop music box of ticking percussion, pulsing bass and uninspiring samples
hichbarely allows
estiny's Childa moment to breathe, let alone stretch out".
Despite criticizing its length, lyrical content and balladry, Alexis Petridis from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' wrote that ''Survivor'' "has a rare individuality, and a hint of genius, hidden in its grooves".
Nathan Rabin from ''
The A.V. Club'' shared Petridis' negative sentiments, concluding his review by saying: "if the group wants to survive the stormy seas of the pop world for more than a few years, it should call its stable of songwriting wizards ASAP".
In a positive review, Cristín Leach from
RTÉ highlighted "The Story of Beauty" while dismissing the album's closing tracks "Gospel Medley" and "Outro (DC-3) Thank You".
Laura Sinagra from ''
Blender'' wrote: "Aside from disposable ballads and the sappy "Perfect Man," ''Survivor'' blasts haters, child molesters and "been-around-the-block-females," keeping the blood up as they whup ass."
Sal Cinquemani from ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
'' expressed that "for the most part ''Survivor'' rises to the occasion, and while the album isn't groundbreaking, it at least shows the new trio breaking out on their own."
Rob Sheffield from ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' praised the album but singled "the self-righteous tone creeping into the songs" out as its sole weakness.
Accolades
Awards and nominations
, -
! scope="row",
2001
,
Teen Choice Award
, Choice Music – Album
, rowspan="6", ''Survivor''
,
,
, -
! scope="row",
2002
,
American Music Award
The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
,
Favorite Pop/Rock Album
,
,
, -
! scope="row",
2002
,
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
,
Best R&B Album
,
,
, -
! scope="row",
2002
,
Soul Train Music Award
,
Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo
,
,
, -
! scope="row" rowspan="2", 2002
,
TMF Award
, Best Album
,
,
, -
,
Soul Train Lady of Soul Award
, Best R&B/Soul Album by a Group, Band or Duo
,
,
Listings
Commercial performance
In the United States, ''Survivor'' debuted atop the
''Billboard'' 200 chart dated May 19, 2001, with first-week sales of 663,000 copies. It also debuted atop the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
, selling over 87,000 copies at the R&B core stores within its first week. Destiny's Child's first number-one album on both charts, it registered the highest first-week sales for any
artist at the time.
Despite a 46% sales decline to 358,979 units, the album remained at the summit in its second week, reaching the one-million sales mark. In its third week, the album descended to number three, selling 221,884 copies; in total, it spent 14 consecutive weeks within the top ten. By the end of 2001, ''Survivor'' had sold over 3.7 million copies, becoming the seventh best-selling album of the year. It was certified
quadruple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) on January 7, 2002.
By November 2005, the album had sold over 4.7 million units in the US, being one of the
best-selling girl group albums ever in the country. In Canada, the album debuted atop the
Canadian Albums Chart, spending four weeks at the summit.
In October 2003, it was certified quadruple platinum by
Music Canada
Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...
.
Across Europe, ''Survivor'' reached the summit in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.
On the
European Top 100 Albums, it debuted at number 49 and peaked atop the chart the following week.
In 2001, the record was certified double platinum by the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales of two million units across Europe.
In the United Kingdom, the album debuted atop the
UK Albums Chart,
UK R&B Albums Chart and
Scottish Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 118,000 copies.
It became the first studio album by an American girl group to peak atop the UK Albums Chart and made Destiny's Child the second American girl group in history to reach the summit, following
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
, who did so with their greatest hits albums ''
Greatest Hits'' (1967) and ''
20 Golden Greats'' (1977).
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) certified it triple platinum in December 2001.
In Australia, ''Survivor'' debuted and peaked at number four on the
ARIA Top 100 Albums,
and was certified double platinum by the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA) in December 2001.
In New Zealand, it debuted at number ten, ascending towards its peak at number five in its second week.
The album was certified double platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) in 2002.
In Japan, it peaked at number 12 on the
Oricon Albums Chart,
being certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) in May 2001.
In South Africa, the album reached number one and, in 2002, was certified triple platinum by the
Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA).
According to IFPI, ''Survivor'' was the third best-selling album worldwide of 2001, with 7.8 million copies sold during the year. By November 2004, ''Survivor'' had sold over ten million copies worldwide, being the
fifth best-selling girl group album of all time.
Controversy

''Survivor'' was the subject of several controversies, albeit less than its predecessor ''
The Writing's on the Wall'' (1999).
Rob Fusari, who wrote "
Bootylicious", recalled a dispute with Destiny's Child's manager and Beyoncé's father
Mathew Knowles over the song's conception. In an interview with
Barbara Walters,
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
had discussed how she came up with the idea for the song herself. Upon seeing that, Fusari called Knowles, describing the conversation:
The lyrical content of "
Survivor" caused backlash from
LeToya Luckett and
LaTavia Roberson, who had controversially departed from the group in February 2000 and filed a lawsuit against the group and their management soon afterwards. The portion of the lawsuit directed towards Beyoncé and
Kelly Rowland had been dropped by the end of the year, with a mutual agreement prohibiting either party involved from making "any public comment of a disparaging nature concerning one another".
Luckett and Roberson contended the line "You thought I wouldn't sell without you, sold 9 million" violated the agreement and filed another lawsuit against the group in February 2002, accusing Beyoncé, Rowland and
Michelle Williams of making "deliberate disparaging, defamatory factual misrepresentations" in the song, as well as in their statements for the press surrounding the release of ''Survivor''.
By late July, the parties had reached a settlement out of court.
Impact and legacy
Retrospectively, ''Survivor'' has received mixed to positive critical commentary, with criticism directed towards its lyrical content, and praise towards its thematic impact on mainstream music of the 2000s.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
wrote for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
: "''Survivor'', their first album as full-fledged superstars – also their first album since most of the group disappeared due to managerial conflicts – is as contrived and calculated as a
Mariah Carey record, only without the joy. This is a determined, bullheaded record, intent on proving Destiny's Child has artistic merit largely because the group survived internal strife."
On the contrary, J'na Jefferson from ''
Vibe'' declared the album "a seminal force in the
female empowerment trend of the 21st century, serving as a love letter to body-positive, independent and fierce women all over the globe."
Furthermore, Vincent Anthony from The 97 credited the record for "unbiasedly
eldingR&B inspirations and hip-hop nuances into an unique brand of pop that defined the early 2000s".
From a standpoint concerning pop culture,
Nathan Brackett and
Christian Hoard wrote that the album "helped establish
estiny's Childas an American institution" in ''
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' (2004).
Its second single "
Bootylicious" popularized the
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. term "bootylicious", a combination of the words "
booty" and "delicious", although the term had already been used by
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
on
Dr. Dre's 1992 song "
Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" as a pejorative.
As Destiny's Child brought the term's neologism of approval to prominence, it consequently entered the mainstream English language, thus being added to the ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' in 2004, referring to a sexually attractive woman in its definition. Following the
September 11 attacks, the lead single "
Survivor" received new lyrical interpretations from the public, being called a "tool for national grief in a way to show solidarity and strength".
"
Emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
", which was released as the third single around the time of the attacks, was also branded a "healing song", which contributed to its commercial success in the United States.
As previously announced,
following the completion of promotional duties for ''Survivor'', Destiny's Child embarked on a hiatus in 2002, in order for its members to release solo albums.
Michelle Williams was first to release a solo album, titled ''
Heart to Yours'', in April 2002. It features the "Gospel Medley" first released on ''Survivor''.
The critically acclaimed
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
record debuted at number 57 on the US
''Billboard'' 200, with first-week sales of 17,000 copies and later peaked at number-one on the
Top Gospel Albums chart.
It became the biggest-selling gospel album of the year, with 220,000 copies sold in the US.
At the 2002
MOBO Awards, Wiliams won an award for "Best Gospel Act",
before making her
Broadway debut, as the
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
in the musical ''
Aida'' in November 2003.
Although
Beyoncé Knowles' solo album was initially scheduled for October 2002, its release was postponed due to the success of
Kelly Rowland's collaboration with
Nelly, "
Dilemma". The song reached the summit of the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, thus Rowland's
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
-oriented solo debut ''
Simply Deep'' was moved up to October from its original early 2003 release date. ''Simply Deep'' debuted at number 12 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 77,000 units within its first week and going on to be certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA). "Dilemma" additionally won Rowland her first
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
outside the group, for
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the
45th Annual Grammy Awards (2003). Following numerous postponements, Beyoncé was the last to release a solo album. Titled ''
Dangerously in Love'', it was released in June 2003 to widespread critical acclaim. The album debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 and registered the highest first-week sales among the members with 317,000 units. It was preceded by the lead single "
Crazy in Love", which spent eight consecutive weeks atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Crazy in Love" was followed by "
Baby Boy", which surpassed its predecessor's reign at the summit by one week, and the top-five hits "
Me, Myself and I" and "
Naughty Girl".
At the
46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004), ''Dangerously in Love'' and its tracks won five awards, including
Best Contemporary R&B Album; Beyoncé consequently tied with
Lauryn Hill,
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...
and
Norah Jones for the record of most Grammy Awards won by a woman at a single ceremony. Following the release of her sixth solo studio album ''
Lemonade'' (2016), Sasha Geffen from
MTV claimed "''Survivor'' marked
eyoncés turning point from musician to global phenomenon", drawing parallels between lyrical themes of tracks from ''Survivor'' and those from ''Lemonade''.
Track listing
Notes
*
signifies a co-producer
*
signifies a vocal producer
*
signifies a remix producer
* "Gospel Medley" comprises "You've Been So Good", "Now Behold the Lamb", "
Jesus Loves Me" and "Total Praise".
Sample credits
* "Bootylicious" contains samples from "
Edge of Seventeen" by
Stevie Nicks.
* "Nasty Girl" contains replayed elements from "
Tarzan Boy" by
Baltimora and uncredited interpolations from "
Push It" by
Salt-N-Pepa.
* "Independent Women Part II" contains samples from "Peabody's Improbable History" by
Frank Comstock.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Survivor''.
*
Walter Afanasieff – arrangement (tracks 12 and 14), bass (tracks 12 and 14), drum programming (tracks 12 and 14), production (tracks 12 and 14), rhythm programming (tracks 12 and 14), songwriting (tracks 12 and 14)
* Billy B. – make-up
* Rich Balmer – engineering assistance (track 2)
*
Maurizio Bassi – songwriting (track 4)
* Kerren Berz – live strings (track 2)
* Greg Bieck – additional keyboards (tracks 12 and 14), drum programming (tracks 12 and 14), engineering (tracks 12 and 14), Macintosh/digital programming (tracks 12 and 14), rhythm programming (tracks 12 and 14)
* John "Jab" Broussard – additional guitars (track 15)
* Orlando Calzada – engineering (tracks 2 and 4)
* Jim Caruana – engineering (track 18)
*
Frank Comstock – songwriting (track 9)
*
Robert Conley – additional programming (tracks 12 and 14)
* Michael Conrader – engineering (tracks 8 and 9), mixing (track 9)
* Tom Coyne – mastering (all tracks)
* Rich Davis – production coordination (track 14)
*
Anthony Dent – engineering (track 2), production (tracks 2 and 4), songwriting (tracks 2 and 4)
* David Donaldson – additional keyboards (track 9), songwriting (track 9), vocal engineering (track 9)
*
Damon Elliott – additional engineering (track 7), production (track 7), songwriting (track 7)
*
Greg Edenfield – 2nd engineer (track 11)
*
Ken "K-Fam" Fambro – production (track 16), songwriting (track 16)
*
Mark Feist – production (track 13)
*
Farrah Franklin – backing vocals (tracks 1 and 9)
*
Kirk Franklin – songwriting (track 17)
*
Rob Fusari – production (tracks 3, 6, 10 and 18), songwriting (tracks 3, 6, 10 and 18)
* Calvin Gaines – production (tracks 10 and 18), songwriting (tracks 10 and 18)
*
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...
– songwriting (track 13)
*
Robin Gibb – songwriting (track 13)
* David Gleeson – engineering (track 14)
* Troy Gonzalez – additional engineering (track 1)
* Andy Gwynn – mixing assistance (track 2)
*
Naimy Hackett – songwriting (track 4)
*
James Hoover – engineering (tracks 5–7), vocal engineering (tracks 4 and 10)
* Kent Huffnagle – additional engineering (track 6)
* I.C. – art direction
*
Kenneth Karlin – instrumentation (track 11), production (track 11), songwriting (track 11)
*
Beyoncé Knowles – arrangement (track 17), backing vocals (all tracks), lead vocals (all tracks), production (tracks 1–7 and 9–18), songwriting (tracks 1–12 and 14–18), vocal arrangement (track 13), vocal production (track 8)
*
Mathew Knowles – executive production, production (track 13), songwriting (track 2)
*
Tina Knowles – hair, styling
* Pete Krawiec – engineering assistance (tracks 12 and 14)
* Bill Lee – production (tracks 10 and 18), songwriting (tracks 10 and 18)
* William Malina – engineering (track 11)
*
Manny Marroquin – mixing (track 11)
*
Tony Maserati – mixing (tracks 2–6, 10 and 18), mixing engineering (track 9)
*
Errol "Poppi" McCalla Jr. – additional programming (track 13), production (track 15), songwriting (track 15)
* Michael McCoy – engineering assistance (tracks 12 and 14)
*
Falonte Moore – production (tracks 3, 6 and 10), songwriting (tracks 3, 6 and 10)
* Ramon Morales – additional engineering (track 1)
*
Stevie Nicks – songwriting (track 3)
* Flip Osman – mixing assistance (tracks 2–6, 10 and 18)
*
Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing (tracks 7, 13, 16 and 17)
*
Poke and Tone – production (track 1), songwriting (track 1)
* Redd – keyboards (track 2)
*
Cory Rooney – production (track 1), songwriting (track 1)
*
J. R. Rotem – additional instrumentation (track 5), songwriting (track 5)
*
Kelly Rowland – backing vocals (tracks 1–11 and 13–18), lead vocals (tracks 1–7, 10, 13 and 16–18), songwriting (track 18)
*
Eric Seats – instrumentation (track 9), mixing (track 9), production (tracks 8 and 9), songwriting (tracks 8 and 9)
* Nunzil Signore – guitars (track 10)
* Dexter Simmons – mixing (track 15)
*
Richard Smallwood – songwriting (track 17)
* Manelich Sotolongo – engineering (track 1)
*
Soulshock – instrumentation (track 11), mixing (track 11), production (track 11), songwriting (track 11)
* Spicer – photography
* Brian Springer – engineering (track 13), vocal engineering (tracks 15 and 16)
*
Rapture Stewart – instrumentation (track 9), mixing (track 9), production (tracks 8 and 9), songwriting (tracks 8 and 9)
* Terry-T – additional engineering (track 5)
* Jill Topol – styling
* Rich Travali – mixing (track 1)
*
Dave Way – mixing (tracks 12 and 14)
* Marla Weinhoff – prop styling
*
Teresa LaBarbera Whites – A&R
*
Dwayne Wiggins – guitars (track 5), production (track 5), songwriting (track 5)
*
Michelle Williams – backing vocals (tracks 1–7, 9–11 and 13–18), lead vocals (tracks 2–5, 7, 10, 13 and 18), songwriting (track 18)
* Kim Woods Sandusky – vocal consultation
* Dan Workman – additional engineering (track 13), additional mixing (track 2), engineering (tracks 15 and 17), guitars (track 15), vocal engineering (track 3)
* Wassin Zreik – engineering assistance (track 7)
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
*
Destiny's Child discography
*
List of ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums of 2001
*
List of ''Billboard'' number-one R&B albums of 2001
*
List of number-one albums of 2001 (Canada)
*
List of number-one hits of 2001 (Germany)
*
List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2000s
*
List of UK R&B Albums Chart number ones of 2001
*
List of best-selling girl group albums
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Official website*
''Survivor''at
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Survivor (Destiny's Child Album)
2001 albums
Columbia Records albums
Destiny's Child albums
Albums produced by J. R. Rotem
Albums produced by Cory Rooney
Albums produced by Beyoncé
Albums produced by Trackmasters