Michelle Williams had a three-word mantra in her head before reuniting with Destiny’s Child last month.
Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter Tour,” which concluded in Las Vegas on July 26, included a surprise Destiny’s Child reunion with Williams and Kelly Rowland, as well as performances by Shaboozey and Jay-Z.
Williams reflected on the moment during a July 29 episode of her podcast “Checking In with Michelle Williams,” sharing the behind-the-scenes story about how the reunion came to be, including the last-minute rehearsals and decisions to be made about the performance itself.
During the rehearsals, Williams said she had one past incident from decades prior at the top of mind that kept her on edge.
“I was trying to stay focused because y’all know I still have trauma from falling on ‘106 & Park,’” she said. “I need y’all to be my therapist about that too because every time I perform with the girls, it’s in my head, ‘Do not fall. Do not fall. Do not fall.’”
Williams cited the incident from more than 20 years prior when Destiny’s Child appeared on “106 & Park” to promote their final studio album, “Destiny Fulfilled.”
While performing their song “Soldier” on the show, Williams, Rowland and Beyoncé were walking down the stage in unison when Williams tripped and fell. The singer quickly recovered and stood back up before diving into the dance moves, though the incident left an impression on Williams over the years.
“That’s still in my head,” she added. “Steps do frighten me.”
Williams noted that in the Broadway musical “Death Becomes Her,” she has to descend steps during the show, though she noted that she has “two gorgeous men on the right of me and the left of me holding my hand” to help her down.
“Did I rehearse them steps? Sure did,” Williams said, referring to her “Death Becomes Her” steps. “And then when it came to, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, you dummy. You let fear or lack of trust on that first step,’ because y’all I’m not going to let social media do me, because if that were to happen and I fell, I would not be able to live that down for the next 20 years.”
Williams said the only aspect of the reunion performance she didn’t like was her lack of trust in the steps, citing her experience starring in “Death Becomes Her” for over a year between performances in Chicago and on Broadway in New York City.
“There are certain aspects of that stage that I know, I’m comfortable. I don’t have to look at certain marks,” she explained. “ There are certain things that I know that I can hit because I’m at home on that stage. I’m not at home on the ‘Cowboy Carter’ stage, nope. And y’all wasn’t going to do me. So that’s the only thing that I’m like, ‘You could have trusted that the steps were not going to let you down.’”
Williams said that all of the necessary changes were made “wardrobe wise” to make sure she wouldn’t tumble on the “Cowboy Carter Tour,” including requesting for the fringe to be cut off of the pants she wore to reduce to risk of tripping and falling.
Despite the fear of the moment she experienced, the singer said that everything fell back into place for the group, sharing, “We turned into little girls again, them teenage girls, those younger girls who just wanted to since, dance and travel the world.”
“And Beyoncé was like ‘Y’all, let’s have fun. We just going to go out there and have fun. Whatever happens, happens, but we’re going to have fun,’” Williams added. “I knew we were going to have fun, we always have fun, but when you come from Destiny’s Child, and then when you see the level of excellence that Beyoncé performs at, you step it up.”
There were no missed steps in sight during the reunion on the “Cowboy Carter Tour.”
The trio, who officially disbanded in 2006, were in lock step as they kicked off their performance with a synchronized strut to kick off “Lose My Breath.”
Their medley transitioned into Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” track “Energy,” including the mute challenge from last tour, before ending with their hit single “Bootylicious.”
