Destiny's Child Reunion Photo Raises One Big Question

Destiny's Child fans were given a treat for the ages on Wednesday, when a photo was unveiled of five of the group's members posing together backstage.

On Wednesday, original Destiny's Child singers LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson took to Instagram to post the photo them posing with the group's most recent members, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams.

The photo was taken backstage when Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour stopped in her hometown of Houston, Texas, back in September. It marks the first time this particular mix of Destiny's Child stars have been photographed together.

A shot of the backstage hangout first emerged in November, when Beyoncé shared a teaser for her concert film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.

In the newly unveiled image, Beyoncé wore an all-black hooded ensemble as she was joined by the singers, who each wore some form of glittering silver, in keeping with the theme of the "Break My Soul" hitmaker's theme of her live shows.

Captioning the photo, Luckett alluded to the bad blood that had led to her and Roberson abruptly departing Destiny's Child in early 2000.

"ALL LOVE," she began. "This was hands down my favorite moment of 2023 ❤️. The Love, The joy, The Prayer, The Healing."

"May we all experience beautiful moments like this in 2024. @beyonce @kellyrowland @iamlatavia @michellewilliams. All of the Chilren," she concluded.

The image, which has garnered more than 185,000 likes, was also shared on Roberson's account, where it has clocked up 45,000 likes so far.

While the post has prompted a social media rejoicing from fans of the "Say My Name" hitmakers, several had one lingering question about the grand reunion when the photo was shared on X, formerly Twitter: where was Farrah Franklin?

"Queens!" exclaimed one X user, who added, "and then there's Farrah," in reference to former member Franklin, who briefly appeared in the Destiny's Child lineup in 2000. The post included a GIF of luggage being thrown out of a room—a reference to a long-held fan theory of how Franklin left the group.

Another fan shared a GIF of Beyoncé and Williams posing together, adding a caption that also questioned the absence of the months-long Destiny's Child member.

"Where's luggage?" the X user asked, sparking amusement from other fans.

"And nothing for Farrah," commented another fan, who added a trio of crying emojis.

In a partial explanation of the luggage references, the fan shared a GIF of Beyoncé telling Franklin: "Well, it's better for you to go home than to not have luggage."

Newsweek has contacted Franklin via email for comment.

To recap how the luggage reference came to be, it may be easier to start from the late 1990s, when Destiny's Child had burst onto the music scene with their hit "No, No, No, Pt. 1" (the second part was a remix featuring Wyclef Jean).

At the time, the group's lineup consisted of Beyoncé, Rowland, Luckett, and Roberson. Months after the release of their 1999 album, Writing's on the Wall, reports arose of trouble in the Destiny's Child camp.

Luckett and Roberson left Destiny's Child citing favoritism and their manager (and Beyoncé's father) Matthew Knowles' mishandling of finances. The women filed a lawsuit against Matthew Knowles and their former bandmates, which was later resolved in a settlement.

The departed singers were replaced by Franklin and Williams in 2000. However, just months later, Franklin also exited the group, leaving the Destiny's Child lineup that would go on to enjoy a string of chart-topping hits before disbanding in 2006.

While Franklin didn't last long in the group, a clip of her 2000 appearance on the TV show Total Access 24/7 with her bandmates has lived for decades online.

One part of the video shows the singers' recording session overrunning, as Franklin expressed concern about catching the last flight home.

"You might have to go straight to the airport," a headphone-wearing Beyoncé advised Franklin as they stood together in the studio.

"I don't have no luggage," Franklin countered.

"Well, it's better for you to go home than to not have luggage," Beyoncé responded.

Franklin challenged that it wasn't better, prompting Beyoncé to hit back: "I mean, somebody could send you your luggage."

Standing her ground, Franklin argued that she likely wouldn't be reunited with her luggage for four days.

"Well, it's either that or you're gonna probably miss your flight," Beyoncé shrugged.

The episode then cut to Beyoncé talking about the hard work involved in being a part of Destiny's Child. After mentioning Rowland's industry experience, Beyoncé said that Franklin "had never been on tours."

"So basically we did a show for MTV and she was distant," she continued of Franklin. "She wasn't really vocal, She wasn't really talking, she was tired. Everybody was tired, but she was over to the side.

"So we had a meeting about that, and during the meeting she said she couldn't take it anymore and she said she was gonna go home, so she left. And MTV was still downstairs, waiting for Destiny's Child. So the three of us continued and did it hoping that maybe she didn't leave and go home. Maybe she just stayed at the hotel, or whatever. Came back, she did leave."

According to Beyoncé, Franklin also missed a "very important" radio performance the following day, as well as a flight to Australia, where they had two sold-out shows. Beyoncé said they pleaded with Franklin to join them in Australia, but that she told them she couldn't make it.

"Basically, when you don't show up for work for over a week, just like any job, you can't just not show up for no reason," Beyoncé told the cameras as Rowland and Williams sat with her. "Everybody was tired, we all were on the same schedule."

"I think she just couldn't take it. So we wish her the very best," she added of Franklin. "We have nothing against her, but we just felt like we can continue on as a trio, and that's what we're doing."