It's unfortunate that the plaintiffs have nothing better to do with their time

Destiny's Child attorney Tom Fulkerson

Survivor was a number one hit in the UK in April 2001. On Wednesday night it won a Grammy for best R&B performance by a duo or group.

A line in the song, which was quoted in the lawsuit filed in a Houston federal court, said: "You thought I wouldn't sell without you, sold nine million."

Tom Fulkerson, an attorney for Destiny's Child, called the lawsuit "ridiculous".

He told the Houston Chronicle: "It's unfortunate that the plaintiffs have nothing better to do with their time than to dream up new lawsuits to file."

Beyonce Knowles is the lead singer of the group

In a separate case, Luckett and Roberson also went to court to try and stop the group performing the song at a concert venue in the Texas city.

But a judge told the duo that their complaint "did not have much meat on this bone" and denied their request.

The group has seen a series of line-ups over the years and there have been rumours that they are on the verge of splitting.

Success

Beyonce Knowles and Roberson started singing together when they were 10 and they were later joined by Luckett and Kelly Rowland.

Knowles' father Mathew became the group's manager and they broke into the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with No, No, No in 1998.

A series of hits followed before Luckett and Roberson left the band, to be replaced by Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams.

But the group was forced to become a trio when Franklin then decided to quit the band.

However that did not halt Destiny's Childs' success and they hit the top spot in the UK and the US with Independent Women Part One, the theme tune to hit film Charlie's Angels.

No break-up

Mathew Knowles has denied recent reports that the band were to split.

"Destiny's Child has no intention of breaking up," he said in a statement.

"The ladies of Destiny's Child did talk of taking a 'break', but never used the word 'break-up'."

However, a spokeswoman for the group's management company, Music World Entertainment, confirmed that the three did not plan to return to the studio as a group this year.

"They're going to chill out with Destiny's Child for the year 2002 and concentrate on solo efforts," she said.