Bills, Bills, Bills

“Bills, Bills, Bills” is the third track from American R&B girl-group Destiny’s Child and their second studio album “The Writing’s on the Wall”, which was released in 1999. The track was released as the album’s lead single and ended up being nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2000: “Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals” and “Best R&B Song”. The track was written by all members of the group: Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland, with Kandi Burruss of Xscape credited alongside the track’s producer, Kevin Shek’spere Briggs.

“Bills, Bills, Bills” was critically acclaimed and is an upbeat R&B track about needing to be with a financially stable man who can provide for them. Each member of the group discusses their experiences of men they’ve been with treating them badly due to their financial situation.

The music video was released in June 1994 and was directed by Darren Grant. The video ended up being a breakthrough for Destiny’s Child and got heavy airplay, further heightening the success of the group. The video shows the group in a beauty shop, dancing and cutting clients hair. The beauty shop was said to be a homage to Beyoncé’s homage to her mother Tina, who owned a salon that Beyoncé would work and perform in when she was younger. The video was uploaded to YouTube in October 2009 and as of June 2020, the video has 54.1 million views with 259 thousand likes.

Release Date: 14th June 1999

Songwriter/s: Kevin Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson & Kelly Rowland

Producer: Shek’spere (Kevin Briggs)

Label: Columbia

Music Video Release Date: June 1999

Music Video Director: Darren Grant

Chart Rankings & Certifications: In its year of release, “Bills, Bills, Bills” charted all around the world, reaching peak positions of #26 in Australia, #8 and #10 in Belgium, #1 and #7 in Canada, #20 in France, #19 in Germany, #7 in Iceland, #17 in Ireland, #8 and #9 in the Netherlands, #12 in New Zealand, #20 in Scotland, #30 in Sweden, #28 in Switzerland, #6 in the UK Singles charts, #1 on the UK R&B charts, #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #13 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, #1 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, #26 on the US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart, and lastly, #2 on the US Billboard Rhythmic chart. “Bills, Bills, Bills” is certified Gold in Belgium and the US, and Silver in the UK.

The lyrics to “Bills, Bills, Bills” can be accessed here: LINK