LeToya Luckett is a founding member of Destiny’s Child who saw her life change when she and group member LaTavia Roberson were ousted from the group in 1999 during the height of promoting the their chart-topping CD, ‘The Writing’s on the Wall.’

Destiny’s Child continued with Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland and the group’s manager Matthew Knowles replaced Luckett and Roberson with Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin (who only lasted five months).

Things weren’t easy following the fallout from Destiny’s Child – there was a media firestorm, lawsuits and a whole lot of backlash – but the 28-year-old singer said it was her faith that helped her overcome the tumultuous time in her life.

After a failed attempt at launching a new group called Anjel; Luckett landed a solo deal of her own in 2003 and released her debut CD, ‘Letoya’ on Capitol Records in 2006.

With one platinum-certified CD under her belt, the Houston-based singer is back with her recently released sophomore opus ‘Lady Love.’

I had dinner with Luckett recently at Carolina Kitchen in Hyattsville, Maryland and the singer candidly discussed life after Destiny’s Child; whether she would reunite with her former group; and having high-profile relationships.

You’ve become a poster child for second chances and overcoming adversity. Is that a lot of pressure?
I don’t mind it and I like it. It’s so many people out here in this world with that type of story that we never hear about because they are in different corners of the earth. I am pretty sure that they have probably been through worse than I’ve been through and achieved it. They’ve been able to cross that bridge and get through the fire onto something new without being negative, stepping on somebody’s neck or bad mouthing somebody. I love when people come up to me and say things like that.

What was the greatest lesson learned from your experience with Destiny’s Child?
Communication is very key along with looking out for yourself.

Would you ever write a book about those experiences, particularly as a cautionary guide for people who aim to be in this business?
You could especially in a group situation. For girls and guys, if you’re in a group situation, you have to know that you have to be a team player. You can’t go in with ‘me’ involved. It’s just like a NFL or NBA team, you have to have that mentality and you have to throw the ball to somebody else sometimes. A lot of people view it as a stepping stone for them instead of thinking about the group first. I’ve talked to several girl groups before and told them that they have to stick it out. I don’t know if I would write a book. I know LaTavia, one of the other group members, is writing a book. I don’t know if it will be about our experience, but I know it will be about her life. I’m pretty sure she’s gonna mention something.

Would you reunite with Destiny’s Child if the opportunity presented itself?
I wouldn’t mind it. All of us would have to be on the same page about everything. The respect would have to be there for everyone. We would have to know that we’re going out there to do this for the fans and that’s it. I don’t know.

Would it have to be the original quartet or would you do it as a quintet?

It would need to be about eight of us. [Laughs] But I would love to be out there onstage with the girls again and have that time. It’s been about 10 or 11 years.

You’re branching out and doing some acting now. Tell me about your role in the ‘Preacher’s Kid’ opposite Tank.
It was my first feature film and I didn’t know what to expect. I got cast for the role four days before we actually started taping and I had actually studied for another character. I had gotten the role of ‘Desiree’ who is not friendly at all and four days later I get cast for the sweetest thing in the movie. She’s a 21 year old girl named ‘Angie’ who is the preacher’s daughter. It was an amazing experience and I worked with some amazing people; Troy Rowland who is my acting coach; Stan Foster who is the director and all of my co-stars were so cool.

You’re also in ‘Killers’ with Ashton Kutcher right?
I just wrapped that up and it will be out 2010. Everybody was very cool and professional and I learned a lot. I would love to experience something like that again.

You’ve been in some high profile relationships…
I have?

Yeah. You dated one of the twins from Jagged Edge.
That was high profile? That was like a teen, love thing.

Yeah, but it was in the media a lot during that time. Then you dated Slim Thug and the Washington Wizard player Deshawn Stevenson. Is it hard having the press talk about your relationships?
It’s really weird. I’m like, ‘How do you know my personal business and why is it in my Wikipedia?’ It’s nothing you can really do about it. You try to keep things as personal as you can. I’m not a big talker so you just have to keep things personal.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever read about yourself on a blog?
One time they said I was engaged and I was like, ‘really?’ That’s probably the craziest. I had a ring on like this and I guess anytime you wear a ring on this finger then you’re engaged.

I know that you’re a member of Joel Osteen’s church in Houston. You tweet about it on Twitter. Why is it important for you to make people aware of how significant your faith is?
That’s the best question somebody has ever asked me. Everybody always wants to talk about negative things, but that is real. I watch Joel Osteen online, I also get his podcasts so I can get video from iTunes. When I’m at home and it’s Saturday either I’m leaving Saturday night to get to Houston or a 6 o’clock a.m. flight to get back to church. It’s a must.

Did you lean on your faith to get you through that challenging time after Destiny’s Child?
If I didn’t have my faith, I wouldn’t be anywhere. I don’t even want to think about it. Whenever I’m going through that moment, I call up my prayer sisters. At the end of the day it’s not that bad. Everyday that you have a chance to wake up and breathe and have another opportunity at life, nothing that comes against you can be that bad. You just have to be able to pray your way through it and ask God for strength, wisdom and knowledge to move forward. It happens when people allow worldly things to make them happy. It’s like is that the epitome of success because you have that kind of car? What if you don’t have any love or there’s no faith? That’s not real happiness to me.

But through it all, you got a platinum CD and now you’re promoting your sophomore album.

I’m still in awe about that. I can’t believe that. I still can’t believe that. Now we’re on the sophomore album and I can’t believe that either. It just goes to show that if you work hard, keep God first and stay prayed up then things will happen.

‘Lady Love’ was delayed a few times…
It was a whole lot.

What caused the multiple release date changes?
We went through a merge with Capitol so everything came to a screeching holt. That’s why it took so long for me to come out. We were dealing with them put things in place, but that’s when I did the movies. It was crazy because at the very last minute I went and recorded at Capitol studios and one after another the songs started coming out. We were in this little tiny room and we would just get to work. It was just an amazing process.

How much of what he hear now on this CD remained from the initial release date you had scheduled?
It changed a whole lot. ‘Lady Love’ was the first song that I ever cut for this album. ‘Don’t Let Me Get Away’ was one of the first songs. That’s it from the original first set of songs. Everything else was brand new.

I understand you’re single now. What does it take for a man to be able to be your man?
Everybody wants love. Some can’t get it, some don’t appreciate it, some are just open to the opportunity to have it. It’s just one of those things. I ‘m in love with myself. I’m on the market. You should get the ‘Lady Love’ album and listen to the song called ‘Good To Me.’ It’s not that hard. I need a friend and somebody who is spiritually connected. I need a good father. I need to be able to be any kind of way in front of you- a mess, hair wrapped, rollers- and he still think the world of me.

By Jawn Murray, Black Voices