Kelly Rowland has garnered fans in the U.S. and internationally thanks to her successful music career that has spit out hits such as “Motivation” and “When Love Takes Over.” And for the OG fans, we have to give the nod to the group that kick-started her thriving solo career, Destiny’s Child.
The mother of two has been in the spotlight since she was a teenager and there have been a few times when she has shared vulnerable moments of her life with the public. From sharing that she was in a past abusive relationship to more recently sharing with the world how she reconnected with her father while co-hosting Today in March.
During her appearance on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast, the Grammy award-winner reflected on the moment of seeing her dad after 30 years. “I remember walking to meet him. My feet got heavy,” she said. “I had all these things I wanted to say. I was going to go in on this man.” Kelly began listing the questions she was ready to ask him regarding him not being in her life and admitted it was all coming from anger. However, her tune changed when she saw him.
“I kid you not, the moment I walked in there, I saw his face, I saw how old he was, I saw time, something said ‘be quiet,’” she said. “I was quiet. I let this man talk for two hours. Two hours he got out everything he needed to get out and he still kept talking and then it was like certain things that he told me fit another side of a story that my mom had told me.”
Kelly’s parents divorced when the singer was 7 years old and soon after she and her mother moved from Atlanta, GA to Houston, TX. The Merry Liddle Christmas actress’ mom, Doris Rowland Garrison, passed away in 2014.
As Kelly’s father kept talking she still had burning questions including, why didn’t he try to find her? Her father, Christopher Lovett, said he did try to find her. And she soon remembered that as she got older, she set boundaries to prevent that from happening. The “Ice” songstress recalled being on tour with Destiny’s Child and telling security not to let her dad in if he showed up.
When she and her father reconnected in Oct. 2018, she had to have that uncomfortable conversation with him. “I didn’t know what he was going to bring into my life and I was like, ‘I’m good right now.’ So all that time, I’m protecting myself,” she explained. “But in all the time I’m protecting myself, I’m also going through the most tumultuous relationship, choosing the wrongest dudes to be around.”
However, Kelly seems to be happy with her decision in reaching out to find her father. While speaking about it to Hoda Kotb on Today, the mom of two shared the importance of hearing her father say those three words.
“It was necessary to hear it from a man. It was necessary to hear it from my father,” she said. “When I thought about all the tumultuous relationships and trying to figure out men, like, that is the base and the foundation of it psychologically. So when I’m talking to therapists, and I’m asking them about this, it all runs back to the abandonment issue.”
Angie Martinez IRL Podcast | Kelly Rowland
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Cindy Ord/Getty Images