Story by Stereo Williams
Photographer: DeWayne Rogers
Makeup: AJ Crimson
Hair: Maisha Oliver
Stylist: Seth Brundle
LeToya Luckett has been a star for quite a while now. After rising to fame as an original member of the famed girl group Destiny’s Child in the late 1990s, then stepping out on her own as a solo singer in the mid-2000s, the beauty from Houston has spent almost half of her life in the international spotlight. As she embarks on even more new professional beginnings — she’s set to release her new film, From the Rough and is working hard on her upcoming third solo album, Until Then …, the 33-year-old star who spent much of her adolescence sharing a stage with the likes of Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland admits that it took a while for her to feel comfortable in her own skin. She had to learn to truly love herself.
“I had things about myself that I [didn’t] like,” says Luckett. “I [would always say] ‘I wish I had this, I wish I had that.’ I used to have this thing about my legs. If you look at all of the Destiny’s Child albums from when I was a part of the group, you never saw me in a skirt. I was always the one who wore the pants, because I felt like my legs were too skinny.”
Luckett had to learn how to not pick herself apart, and understands how hard it can be for young women to truly become comfortable in their own skin.
“You want your boobs to grow; you want all kind of things to happen,” she says, with a laugh. “Eventually things fill out — and sometimes they fill out too much!”
The glare of the spotlight only amplifies insecurities. “People like to pick at your imperfections and that can be very hard on you as a person. I think a lot of times people forget that we’re human beings and some of us are fighting self-esteem issues already,” she continues. “I love Instagram and Twitter and I think it’s awesome that fans can connect with their favorite artists, but it also gives them a chance in that comment box to say what they really feel about them. Be confident in who you are and who God made you to be. I can’t pay attention to it. I’d go crazy out here.”
