Beyoncé
Online

Beyonce's Super Bowl halftime show has predictably sent sales of her music skyrocketing.

The diva headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime festivities in New Orleans last night (Feb. 3), where she performed eight songs and reunited with Destiny's Child.

Industry sources suggest that in the week ending Feb. 3, Beyonce's digital album sales jumped by over 230%. Meanwhile, those of her group Destiny's Child soared by more than 600%. That latter increase is inordinately large as it includes sales of the trio's brand new "Love Songs" compilation, released last Tuesday. The set features one new recording, "Nuclear."

The album sales gains are also aided by discount pricing in both the iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores. The former discounted key earlier titles from Beyonce and Destiny's Child to $7.99 while the latter marked them down to between $5 and $7.99.

In terms of digital song sales, Beyonce's grew by an estimated 85% while Destiny Child's rose by over 300%.

Beyonce's biggest selling song of the week was "Halo," which closed her eight-song halftime set. The biggest Destiny's Child song of the week, according to early data, looks to be "Say My Name" (which was not part of the halftime medley). Two Destiny's Child tunes were performed at the Super Bowl: "Bootylicious" and "Independent Women (Part 1)."

The week's official Nielsen SoundScan sales figures for Beyonce and Destiny's Child will be released on Wednesday (Feb. 6). Further impact from the halftime show will be felt next week, after a full seven days' worth of sales are registered post-game.

To construct their brief-but-electric reunion at the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday (Feb. 3), Destiny's Child singers Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams had a slew of beloved classics to choose from -- and, as it turns out, Beyonce nixed one of the supergroup's biggest hits from the setlist, a source tells Us Weekly exclusively.

"They rehearsed with 'Bills, Bills, Bills,'" the source says of the trio's 1999 smash -- their first bonafide number one single. "And the band started talking about, 'How come they're not doing 'Bootylicious?'"

The problem with "Bills"? "It turned out to be too slow and wasn't flowing with the rest of the set," the insider explains. 2001's number hit "Bootylicious," which the group ultimately performed together, "was a better way to introduce the girls with their names. It worked so much better."

Beyonce also opted to nix the group's midtempo new single, "Nuclear," opting instead for 2000's "Independent Women Part I" before seguing into Beyonce's solo hit "Single Ladies."

Jay-Z was also supposed to join Beyonce on stage for "Crazy in Love" but decided at the last minute not to do so.

"He wanted that to be her moment and didn't want to take away from it," a source close to the couple tells Us Weekly. "She had been working her ass off."

Instead, the 43-year-old hip-hop mogul watched his wife perform from a special area with their 12-month-old daughter, Blue Ivy, and other family members.

Millions of fans cheered on Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams during their Destiny's Child reunion at Sunday's Super Bowl. But there are a few particular fans who are making sure everyone knows they're team players, even if they were off the team long ago.

LaTavia Roberson, who was part of Destiny's Child in its first incarnation, said she had nothing but love for the ladies.

"Obviously, seeing Beyonce perform was the highlight for me," Roberson told Celebuzz on Monday. "I got a real surprise when both Kelly and Michelle both popped up on the stage like that."

"Hats off to Bee's halftime show! She murdered it!!!!" Roberson tweeted Monday.

She added that she was "pleased" with the performance she couldn't be a part of.

"I thought they all looked great and did a good job with their dance moves," she added. "Beyonce was especially amazing. She looked fabulous, and her voice was really strong. During the performance somebody texted me to say they could not hear Kelly and Michelle sing. It was so noisy in the house where we watched the performance that I did not really notice anything wrong. But who knows? They probably had some technical problems."

Beyonce thanked Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for performing together at the Super Bowl halftime show in a letter which she posted on her Tumblr page and also added two new Instagram pictures from behind the scenes.

Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

How true are the rumors about Destiny’s Child performing at the Super Bowl this weekend?

It could be a possibility. I just know with my schedule right now, it’s just been a little hectic. The possibility of a reunion in the future, is near.

What was the inspiration behind the forthcoming Destiny’s Child Love Songs album?

It’s a compilation of the old songs and we were just like “You know what, let’s give these lovely supporters of ours something new, just to tease them a little bit.” It was beautiful recording it together. We did it before Christmas and it was just amazing to be back together like “Ooo, we still got it!” Beyonce was like “Girl, we sound good together!” and I was like “Duh! That’s what we do boo.” DC’s voices…The connection is divine and I got goosebumps just laying my part down and blending with the other voices of Beyonce’s and Kelly’s. It was just beautiful.

Can we expect new material from Destiny’s Child soon?

In the near future. Absolutely.

After eight years of passionately pursuing solo projects, which have included both music and acting, the ladies of Destiny's Child finally reunited this year to release "Nuclear," an original single that will appear on their upcoming compilation album, Love Songs. And as Michelle Williams tells it, the trio haven't lost their vibe one bit.

"It was a bunch of fun. It was just picking up right where we left off," Williams told MTV News of collaborating with Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé on the Pharrell Williams-produced single. "The harmonies and just us stacking ... Beyoncé laid hers first, then I'd go and lay another note to the bottom, and I'm like, 'Wow, this is dope.' I literally got goose bumps. Beyoncé sent an email like, 'Man, we sound good together!' I'm like, 'Duh, that's what we do, boo! That's what we do!' "

In addition to "Nuclear," Love Songs will feature 13 additional tracks, including "Say My Name" and "Emotions," all of which were handpicked by the ladies. "Since it was titled Love Songs, it was like, 'What are some of the best love songs ?' You've got 'Cater 2 U' then you've got 'If' — meaning you're not doing right, but I still love you — then the title song 'Love' from the Destiny Fulfilled album."

Michelle said the most difficult part of selecting songs for the compilation fell on Beyoncé and Kelly, who had to look way back to their teenage years. "I think what was harder for them was to go back even before I got in the group, to the archive from when they were 12 and 13 years old singing about love," she explained. "I think it might've been a little more difficult for them to choose those songs, but it really was fun. I was cracking up when we were compiling the artwork and we could tell which pictures were good budget, low budget, records sold, not that many sold."

Beyoncé had so much to say in GQ's February cover story. And now, in the wake of that piece (not to mention news of her upcoming Super Bowl reunion with Destiny 's Child and performance at Obama's second inauguration), so do her fans. With the Twittersphere on fire about the GQ article and great Terry Richardson photos, let it never be said that we are not listening. When we read Tweets like this—

Michelle Janaye @michellejanaye
I would love to know what @msamywallace left #out of her cover story on Beyonce https://gqm.ag/Vlccu2 #LetMeSeeYourNotebook. #journostuff

—we got out our notebooks and got busy. Herewith, some outtakes from our interview that address some of the concerns of Beyonce's public:

Destiny's Child are back, and their army of celebrity fans are rejoicing. Just last week, Beyoncé, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland got fans feeling nostalgic when they dropped "Nuclear," a new track off their upcoming compilation album.

"Oh my God, that is a dream come true," fellow diva Jennifer Hudson told MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival, where she is promoting her new movie, the drama "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete."

"I am the biggest Destiny's Child — Beyoncé, Kelly, Michelle, all of them — fan in the world. I'm excited about it," she said, visibly giddy with excitement. "I grew up with these ladies listening to their music. I've always been a fan, and now I'm blessed to know each of them. I'm happy for all of them and cannot wait to hear this album and I love the song 'Nuclear.' I get it. I love it."

The Jan. 29 date is important to Michelle Williams. That's when Destiny's Child releases "Love Songs," a collection of previously released songs as well as a new track co-written by Williams, "Nuclear," the group's first new recording since 2004.

The new song was recorded before Christmas in Los Angeles when all three members were recording their own solo projects. While Williams said the trio isn't ready to make a new full-length CD right now, the old magic that created songs including "Say My Name" and "Bootylicious" is still there.

"Stacking those harmonies on top (of) each other gave me goose bumps," she said of recording the new song. "We were like, `We still sound good together.' Duh! The bond will never die. We're always going to be close. We're always going to work together."

"It's amazing that people are still fascinated by the connection. It's been about eight years since we released original material and people still ask me, `Do you all talk?' We could take a picture together today and then tomorrow, people would say, `Do you all still talk?'"

But Williams was coy about whether she and Rowland will join Beyonce at the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 3. "Who knows?" she said with a smile. "We make sure not to go too long without doing something."

Destiny’s Child is releasing a new compilation, “Love Songs”—a collection of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams’ most sensual and romantic recordings throughout the years.

In addition to including songs like “Cater 2 U” from 2004′s “Destiny Fulfilled,” “Brown Eyes” from 2001′s “Survivor,” and “Now That She’s Gone” from 1999′s “The Writing’s On The Wall,” the 14-track compilation also includes a new song, “Nuclear” that was produced by Pharrell Williams and co-written by Michelle Williams, James Fauntleroy and Lonny Bereal.

The new track “Nuclear” has further fueled speculation that the group will reunite when Beyoncé performs for half-time show at “Super Bowl XLVII” on Feb. 3.

Though “Love Songs”—which drops Jan. 29—only features one new song from DC3, AlwaysAList.com has learned that the group has recorded several additional tracks that will be used on each respective member’s solo release.

Destiny’s Child recorded a new song that one industry insider described as “hot” for Rowland’s forthcoming solo CD, “Year of the Woman.”

The trio also recorded a new gospel song for Williams’ third inspirational CD that will bow on Light Records later this year.

Lastly, a fourth original tune will be included on Beyoncé’s fifth solo release tentatively slated to be released this summer.

Could a full Destiny’s Child reunion CD be in the near future? Have the recent recording sessions inspired the trio to possibly tour together? I guess only time will tell! However, AlwaysAList.com believes—pun intended—”the writing’s on the wall.”

Beyonce's Super Bowl halftime show just got a little more "Bootylicious."

The R&B superstar, 31 -- who is headlining the big event on Feb. 3 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans -- will be joined onstage by her Destiny's Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, multiple sources confirm to Us Weekly exclusively.

Insiders tell Us the "Crazy in Love" singer will open the much-anticipated show solo; midway through her performance, Williams and Rowland will appear onstage and launch into a short medley of the group's hits, culminating in a brand-new song, "Nuclear," their first original material in more than eight years.

After, Beyonce will take center stage again for the big finale, which is said to include the debut of a track from her upcoming fifth album.

News of Destiny's Child's onstage reunion -- which will be their first performance as a group since 2006 -- comes hot on the heels of the Grammy winner's announcement that the trio is set to release a compilation record of their best love songs from past albums.

"I am so proud to announce the first original Destiny's Child music in eight years!" she wrote on her official website Jan. 10.

Generally known for their dance floor pop and R&B anthems, Destiny's Child demonstrate their equally compelling command of contemporary torch songs and ballads throughout Love Songs. Love Songs is a new career-spanning collection of the most sensual and romantic recordings from the best-selling vocal group Destiny's Child.

Comprised of romantic gems recorded between 1997 and 2004, Love Songs includes "Forever Starts Today" and "I Try," a pair of previously unreleased Destiny's Child recordings from the late 1990's featuring Beyoncé Knowles on lead vocals backed by signature DC harmonies and production. Added treats for fans include "Can't Help Myself," an exquisite 1999 rarity formerly available as a promotion-only b-side, and Kelly Rowland's "Heaven," a key track from her 2002 solo album, Simply Deep.

Love Songs will be released on January 29, 2013. Check out the full tracklist below and pre-order it here.

1. Cater 2 U
2. Killing Time
3. Second Nature
4. Heaven
5. Now That She's Gone
6. Brown Eyes
7. If
8. Emotion
9. If You Leave - Featuring Next
10. T-Shirt
11. Temptation
12. Can't Help Myself
13. Forever Starts Today
14. I Try

The official Destiny's Child website has been totally revamped. Click on the thumbnail below to check it out!

Lose My Breath
Sean Garrett: "It was an enormous time. I wound up doing nine songs on Destiny Fulfilled and 'Lose My Breath' was a record that was really exciting. At the time, me and Rodney Jerkins did that one together. There was so much magic going on in the studio. We probably recorded all the songs in about a month and every day it was a new song coming out. 'Lose My Breath' was towards the latter part of the album and that was an amazing song that we felt could not only be big on the radio but big with bands and marching bands. I was on a natural high after that."

Soldier
Sean Garrett: "I loved how Destiny's Child evolved and became this really incredible pop group but I wanted to introduce them to the hood from the perspective of having the world look at them in a different way. That was the whole dynamic of putting an album together and, of course, Beyonce is the head honcho. It was great working with her and a lot of the concepts that she and I would talk about before we would put it down.
"What was so beautiful about working with them on this album was they were willing to cut and record almost every track that we were actually coming up with. It was very cool. It was like a machine. I wrote "Soldier" on the way to the studio in a taxi. I said I got this hook that's nuts and I would come in and sing it to the girls and they would say, 'I like that.' What was great about that was they all liked guys from the streets. Each verse was a representation of the guy they were actually into."