Kelly Rowland was born Kelendria Trene Rowland on February 11, 1981, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Doris Rowland Garrison and Christopher Lovett.
Rowland grew up inspired by Whitney Houston and — like her idol — sang in the church choir. At 7, Rowland’s mother left her father due to domestic abuse and moved the family to Houston, Texas.
In Texas, Kelly met another budding songstress, BeyoncĂ© Knowles. According to reports, Doris felt it was better for her daughter to live with her friend’s family, and BeyoncĂ©’s parents, Matthew and Tina, agreed to provide legal guardianship over Kelly.
In 2002, Rowland debuted a solo album, Simply Deep, featuring a duet with rapper Nelly, called “Dilemma,” which spent two months at the top of the charts.
Rowland released a second solo album in 2007, Ms. Kelly. The album received only moderate success and, two years later, she fired manager Matthew Knowles. Her subsequent studio effort, Here I Am (2011), was released through the label Universal Motown, and garnered warm reviews by critics.
Rowland co-wrote most of the tracks for fourth studio album, Talk a Good Game (2013), which featured contributions from Wiz Khalifa and her former Destiny’s Child bandmates.
In November 2018, Rowland released her first single in years, simply titled “Kelly.” She followed in early 2019 with “Crown,” with both tracks to be included in an upcoming album.
Along with her musical work, Rowland has found her way into TV and film projects. She appeared as a judge on the U.K. and American versions of the music competition series The X Factor and nabbed a role in the 2012 ensemble feature Think Like a Man.
Following a short-lived attempt to launch new musical careers in the series Chasing Destiny, Rowland returned to judging duties on the Australian version of The Voice. In early 2019, she appeared as R&B great Gladys Knight in the BET series American Soul.