The inaugural MTV "Total Request Live" tour--featuring Destiny's Child [ tickets ], Nelly [ tickets ], Eve, Dream, 3LW and, on select dates, Jessica Simpson--opens its trek through more than 40 North American cities tonight in Albany, N.Y.

R&B trio Destiny's Child has had tremendous early success with its new album "Survivor" (Columbia), which has sold more than three million copies since its May 1 release.

In a recent interview with LiveDaily, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child said that the group has been working on new dance routines for nearly every song in its set. Some Destiny's Child songs will be integrated into medleys, she said.

"We used to do the whole song to 'Bills, Bills, Bills,' [but] this time, we might do the first verse, a few choruses and maybe put on a new ending," she said. "We like to play around with it."

Both Nelly and his group project St. Lunatics are also proving to be adept at selling records. Nelly's debut has been certified for sales of more than seven million copies by the Recording Industry Association of America, and the recent St. Lunatics release "Free City" has been certified platinum for sales of a million copies.

Jessica Simpson will join the "TRL" Tour from July 18 through Aug. 3, before she departs for her own "Dreamchasers" tour, she said in a recent liveDaily interview.

Rapper Eve, who comes from the Ruff Ryders label camp, is supporting her second album, "Scorpion." The all-girl pop group Dream released its debut album on Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy label earlier this year.

3LW--short for Three Little Women--released its debut album last fall. The group is nominated for two Teen Choice awards. The Teen Choice Awards 2001 air on Aug. 20 on the Fox network.

Three of the acts on the "TRL" bill--which takes its name from MTV's popular all-request show--have tracks on the "Now That's What I Call Music! 7" compilation, which is scheduled for release on July 31. Destiny's Child contributes "Survivor," Nelly supplies "Ride Wit Me," and 3LW kicks in "Plays Gon' Play."