Throwback Thursday: "Say My Name" Destiny's Child

With powerful church-trained pipes, over 40 million records sold and an impressive string of #1 hits, any conversation about the greatest girl group of all time should, at the very least, include Destiny's Child. The best argument for their superiority? "Say My Name," the Grammy-winning manifesto of romantic fealty that is not only the highlight of DC's catalog, but also a standout among the past few decades of pop music. From its opening bursts of cotton-candy harmonies, the song pulses with an infectious energy, bouncing along on a layered production of competing sounds—a guitar lick here, some synthesized violins there, and is that a triangle?—that leaves pleasures to still be discovered on the umpteenth listen. It also creates a playground of noise for Beyoncé's fabulously distinctive vocal performance. Contrasting sparse and almost overly-enunciated verses with a bridge that is lightning-quick and practically indecipherable, she makes audience participation irresistible and inevitable—just as any all-time great should. A

12 years ago this week, "Say My Name" was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100.