I’ve always thought that the intro to this next number one was based on something classical. That it isn’t in the slightest shows up my complete ignorance of classical music…

Survivor, by Destiny’s Child (their 2^nd and final #1)

1 week, from 22^nd – 29^th April 2001

It’s a dramatic intro, though, played on some sort of synth harpsichord. And when the vocals come in, Destiny’s Child don’t let the pace and tension drop. They have a gospel, and they are here to preach.

I’m a survivor, I’m gonna make it, I’m will survive, And keep on surviving… Just in case that message was too subtle, let’s clarify. They are survivors. They are such survivors that they have incorporated every possible conjugation of the verb ‘to survive’ within this song’s lyrics. (No past tense, though. This is all about looking forward.) All this over what is by now becoming the girls’ trademark sharp, staccato beats, and tight, tight harmonies.

On one level, there’s some enjoyment to be had here, in the rapid fire couplets that Beyoncé spits out. Thought I couldn’t breathe without you, I’m inhalin’… Thought that I couldn’t see without you, Perfect vision… But looking back at this from a 2025 vantage, I’m enjoying it less than I thought I would, as it feels like the template from which a lot of joyless 21^st century female pop has been formed. Taylor ‘haters gonna hate’ Swift was certainly taking notes.

To call it self-centred would be harsh, and ‘Survivor’ is far from the first girl group song to push female empowerment. And I, of course, am not against that sort of thing. But there’s a lack of humour here, a seriousness that jars with me, typified when Beyoncé announces: I’m not going to compromise my Christianity. (Though, in saying that she’s not gonna diss him on the internet, does she make the first reference to the World Wide Web in a number one single?) In the middle-eight it heads into self-help podcast territory: If I surround myself with positive things, I’ll gain prosperity… and I instinctively roll my eyes. If only ‘Bootylicious’ had made number one instead…

I was expecting to enjoy revisiting this number one, but it doesn’t hold up as well as I’d hoped. And it pales in comparison to the ultimate female-led survival anthem. Not that there isn’t a good, highly polished pop song here. Once again the Americans were going bigger and beefier than us Brits (consider this and then think of the last UK girl group to feature at number one, Atomic Kitten…)

What ‘Survivor’ really reminds me of is when it provided me with me that quintessential British childhood moment: your parents despairing at the state of what was on ‘Top of the Pops’. (At least, I clearly remember my mum worrying that they might have been cold during this performance.) Destiny’s Child have no further #1s to come, but two of them will feature as solo chart-toppers. Kelly Rowland has two, while Beyoncé has a few more. Perhaps we should end by paying tribute to Michelle Williams, then, who has never risen higher than #47 without her bandmates.