Fantasia Barrino

Fantasia made headlines when she won the third season of American Idol. But it was a long struggle to the top. Fantasia Monique Barrino was born on June 30, 1984 in High Point, North Carolina. Fantasia has said her singing technique was shaped by such legends as Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan. She dropped out of high school before she graduated and by 17, found herself a mom to daughter Zion Quari Barrino.

When she auditioned for season three of American Idol, she impressed the judges with her style (which also had a gospel influence) and stage presence. Her performances included Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” and “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess. Randy said “Summertime:” was the best performance he had ever heard on the show. She found herself in the season finale with fellow contestant Diana DeGarmo. She again sang “Summertime” and Simon said she was the best contestant to compete in any competition. When over sixty-five million votes were tabulated, Fantasia came out on top. Being only nineteen, Fantasia was the younger American Idol winner until Jordin Sparks won the past season.

Her first single, titled I Believe, was released in June 2004. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single stayed at #1 for eleven consecutive weeks. The CD single was the top selling single in 2004 and was eventually certified double platinum. Her debut album, titled Free Yourself, was released that November. It sold almost a quarter of a million copies that first week and debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart. It has since sold over two million copies and has been certified double platinum. She had two hits from the album “Truth Is” and “Free Yourself” that went into the top five on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart and one hit “Baby Mama” that cracked the top twenty. She was nominated for three Grammy awards in 2006: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (for Free Yourself ), Best R&B Album (for Free Yourself), and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for “Summertime”).

Fantasia has also made many television appearances. She starred as Aretha Franklin on an episode of American Dreams and as herself on an episode of All of us. She also guest voiced on The Simpsons. She has appeared as the musical guest on the Tonight show three times. And she played herself in the Lifetime Television movie based on her autobiography.

In her autobiography, titled “Life is Not a Fairy Tale,” she revealed that she was a functioning illiterate. She had memorized songs and had not been able to read any of her contracts. The made for television movie garnered the second highest number of viewers ever on the Lifetime network.

Fantasia released her second self-titled album on December 12, 2006. It featured the singles “Hood Boy,” “When I See U,” and “Only One U.” She returned to American Idol to perform in February 2007. It was announced then that she would be starring as Celie in the Broadway production of The Color Purple. She has since won rave reviews for her performance in the production.

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