Stars Who Had To Go Solo
1. Tina Turner
There were SOOO many good reasons for Tina to leave Ike’s ass but one of the best was that she was a star of her own, something the world learned with her hit solo album “Private Dancer.”
2. Lauryn Hill
Even when in the Fugees, Lauryn killed us so softly that we knew a solo career was coming. But we couldn’t have anticipated the legendary status of her “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” that we still rock today!
3. Lionel Richie
While you cannot deny that Richie would be nowhere with The Commodores (“Easy Like Sunday Morning”), it took him breaking out to get such classics as “All Night Long,” “Hello” and “Running with the Night.”
4. Diana Ross
When you head up the most successful girl group of the 60’s, it takes some real guts to break out on your own but Ms. Diana did just that and brought with her “Love Hangover,” “Upside Down” and “Endless Love.”
5. Method Man
The moment you heard “M-E-T-H-O-D MAN,” you knew this dude was destined to go solo. Already ruling Wu Tang’s debut album, he released “Tical” a year later and ruled the airwaves with “All I Need” and “Bring the Pain.”
6. Justin Timberlake
Already the centerpiece of N’Sync, Justin said “bye, bye, bye” to his boy bandmates and struck out with a cooler, sexier (and yes, blacker) style with his solo joint “Justified” which boasted production by Timberland and Pharrell Williams.
7. Jody Watley
Howard Hewett wasn’t the only singer to leave Shalamar for bigger things. Jody Watley struck out in the mid-80’s and hit big with “Looking for a New Love.”
8. Beyonce
Sort of the Diana Ross of the new millennium, Beyonce left Destiny’s Child to go solo with an album headed by a duet with future husband Jay-Z. “Crazy in Love” launched Beyonce into the stratosphere where she remains to this day.
9. Michael Jackson
He’s not the first to leave a high-profile group, but he was the biggest. Michael left his four brothers to become the biggest pop star in the world with the solo releases of “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad.”
