Survivor is the third studio album by American girl group Destiny's Child. It was released on April 25, 2001, by Columbia Records. 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 2000, 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 (RIAA). At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), the album was nominated for Best R&B Album. By 2004, it had sold over 10 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" 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. 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 [their] 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'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.

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'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 [SugarHill Recording Studios'] Studio A. Then she taught the song to Kelly and Michelle, and all three of them worked on the vocals together."