Fantasia Barrino is an American R&B singer and a known actress who became famous after she won the 2004 American Idol TV Series contest. She is also very known for her later work and awards she received.
Early years
She was born as Fantasia Monique Barrino on June 30, 1984 in High Point in North Carolina in United States. Her parents are Diana and Joseph Barrino and she has a brother named Ricco.
She was just a little girl when she started to show interest im music and in singing. She loved to sing Tina Turner’s and Patti LaBelle’s songs.
She was encourged to get involved into music by a lot of her family members who were also engaged in music. “The Barrino Brothers” is a band formed and consisted by her uncles and they gave her support in singing. She also had her two cousins who were a musical duo, also in R&B genre.
She was a student at Andrews High School in her hometown. Her teenage years were burtoned by the fact that she was sexually abused by one of her classmates. This caused the end of her schooling because she dropped out of school due the harrsssement of other students. She started homeschooling.
Career development
Fantasia started her career with her performance at 2004 American Idol contest where she sang “Summertime”. She impressed the strictest judge of all, Simon Cowell, who insisted in calling her the best contestant he ever listened to.
She won the contest and became the youngest winner of “American Idol” until that year.
After she won the show, she had to go on the tour around USA organized by “American Idol” production. She met a lot of fans and discovered how she is very popular everywhere across US.
Taylor has a brother who also tried himself in audition for the American Idol show but he wasn’t that good to go further in the show.
She was only 19 when she sealed her first contract with a record label, in this case it was J Records, a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
In 2004, her single “I Believe” came out and reach No.1 on Billboard Hot Chart. This was a huge success for her.
She broke a record connected to American Idol show: her single was No.1. for the longest period for any American Idol contestant.
Her CD became double platinum and she won several Billboard Music Awards for the same album. This was a confirmation of her talent and a reward for her hard work.
Her first studio album came in 2004. It was called “Free Yourself”. The album was sold in over 200, 000 copies in just a few days. It also became Platinum. Her lead songs “Free Yourself” and “Truth Is” made it to the top Billboard Charts, including the one with R&B Songs.
In 2005, Fantasia had a lot of TV appearances: in “American Dreams”, “All of Us” and she even gave voice to a character in famous TV animated series “The Simpsons”.
Jay Leno invited her to his “The Tonight Show” several times. The invitation to his show meant that she was extremely successful.
She won an important award for and Outstanding Female Artist.
She was a performer at lot of music festivals of R&B, jazz, reggae and similar music types.
She was an opening performer at “Touch the Sky” tour by Kanye West. This brought her music to a wider audience.
Her debut album “Free Yourself” was nominated for three Grammy’s but she hasn’t won any.
Her autobiographical film “Life is Not A Fairy Tale” was released in 2006 on Lifetime Channel. The film gathered a nomination for a Teen Choice Award.
During 2006, she made a lot of collaborations with known artists she greatly respected: Faith Evans, Pati LaBelle and Aretha Franklin.
“Fantasia” is the name of her 2nd album which came out in 2006 and was produced by Missy Elliot and Babyface. “When I See U” became a huge hit which reached No.1 on R&B charts.
She joined the cast of a Broadway musical “The Color Purple” which became a huge success. She was praised for her role and invited to “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. She performed at 2007 Tony Awards.
During the period of performing at the above mentioned musical she had to go to surgery to operate a cyst which was found on her vocal cards. Later it was revealed that it was a tumor and that the surgery was succesful.
Midi Mafia, a production duo which produced 50 Cent’s album, created her 3rd album.
She was a guest appearance in “I’m His Only Woman”.
In 2010, she started starring in the “Fantasia for Real”, which was a reality-documentary show that aired on VH1 channel and followed her everyday life and struggle in business and at home.
She released a new album called “Back to Me” in 2010. She also went on “Back To Me” tour.
In 2011 she won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal. She acted in the role of a gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. She reassigned her self from RCA Music to RCA Records.
In 2012 she released “Loose to Win”. It was her new single on a new album which will come out in 2013.
In 2013 she joined a famous tenor Andrea Bocelli on his tour. It was a great honor for her to sing with such a famous opera singer.
Fantasia started acting in a Broadway musical called “After Midnight” in 2013 and was part of the cast until 2014.
In 2015 she became one of many known artists who were received into N.C. Music Hall of Fame.
Her Christmas album called “December 25” came in 2014 but it wasn’t very popular.
In 2016, she released her new single “No Time For It” produced by Ron Fair. It was a song from her latesfs album called “The Definition of…”
She published her memoir “Life is Not a Fairy Tale” in 2005 which caused a law suit made by her own father who claimed that she lied a lot in her book. He stated that she made him look worse than he is/was.
Personal life
She was in a relationship with a boy named Brandel Shouse and when she was only seventeen she gave birth to her daughter Zion Quari in 2001.
She was raised by her grandmother and mother who were both strong women and preachers. They supported her and in the end she decided that she will rise above this situation she found herself in, and won’t continue living in poverty.
In 2008 she was in relationship with Young Dro. She has a brother named Ricco who is a recording artist.
She was in a relationship with Antwaun Cook for a long period of time.
She overdosed with sleeping pills in 2010, but fortunately with minor consenquences. It was a suicide attempt that failed, according to the police reports.
She gave birth to her son Xavier in 2011 but never revealed the name of his father. She got married to Kendall Taylor in 2015.
Her nickname is “Baby Patti LaBelle”. It was given to her by her role model Patti LaBelle.
Quick summary
Full name: Fantasia Monique Barrino
Date of birth: June 30, 1984
Birthplace: High Point, North Carolina, USA
Age: 34
Profession: singer, actress
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 67 kgs
Net Worth: $ 5 million
