Beyoncé Goes Girl Huntin'

Former Destiny's Child diva launches search for new girl-band to join her upcoming solo tour

By Gina Serpe Jun 08, 2006 7:05 PMTags

Beyoncé Knowles is looking for a few dreamgirls to call her own.

The Grammy-winning pop star has launched a nationwide search for an all-girl band to accompany Knowles on her upcoming solo tour.

The estrogen-powered posse is not an attempt at a second coming of the late Destiny's Child, rather Knowles is searching for musicians only to form her touring band.

Jay-Z's better half is on the lookout for percussion, keyboard, bass, guitar and horn players with a "look"--that gloriously vague yet highly sought after appearance required of stars, and apparently of stars' touring bands, the world over.

Auditions for the backup positions kick off nationwide next week, with cattle calls being held in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and Burbank.

The would-be road warriors, who must be at least 18 years old, will be required to perform Knowles' hit song "Work It Out" for the warbler and her creative team, who will make the final cuts by June 20.

Musicians that possess the right amount of talent and genetic good fortune will join Knowles on the road to support her second solo album, B'Day, dropping Sept. 5. The first single, "Déjà Vu," features Jay-Z and will be released later this summer.

The "Crazy in Love" songbird's sophomore record, so named in honor of its release date, which falls on Knowles' 25th birthday, marks the follow-up to her 2003 multiplatinum solo debut, Dangerously in Love, which nabbed her an impressive five Grammy Awards.

In addition to her upcoming tour, the B'Day girl has a busy fall ahead of her.

Knowles will log some time on the promotional circuit on behalf of her new film Dreamgirls. The movie version of the hit Broadway musical costars Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover and American Idol castoff Jennifer Hudson, and follows the rise of an all-girl trio, the Dreamettes, in the late 1960s.

The film hits theaters Dec. 21.