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Template:Infobox musical artist 2Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30 1984), or simply Fantasia, is an American pop, R&B, and soul singer and Broadway actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the television series American Idol in 2004. Her first album, Free Yourself, was a commercial success, garnering four Grammy nominations. Barrino was also named the number-one artist of the Adult Urban Contemporary format for 2005 according to the December 13, 2005 Billboard Magazine. Her second album, Fantasia, was released on December 12 2006. On April 10, 2007, Fantasia began starring as Celie in the Broadway musical, The Color Purple.

Biography

Early life

Barrino was born and raised in High Point, North Carolina to an African-American mother and an African-American father of Afro-Trinidadian lineage. The Barrino Family travelled and performed in The Carolinas and elsewhere in the American South and recorded the CD Miracles for a local label. Fantasia's singing style was shaped by the example of gospel singers like Shirley Caesar and The Clark Sisters. R&B legends such as Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan also left a strong impact on young Fantasia.

After a sexual assault that left her feeling embarrassed and harassed, Fantasia dropped out of high school. In a later relationship, Fantasia became pregnant. At age 17, on August 8, 2001, Fantasia gave birth to her daughter, Zion Quari' Barrino.

American Idol

Barrino made an immediate impression on American Idol with her stylized, gospel-influenced sound, and her explosive stage presence. Her audition version of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" made her an early favorite in the competition. Her standout performance during the course of the show was a heartfelt staging, begun seated, of the Porgy and Bess standard "Summertime" that left her in tears from "feeling the song" and earned praise from the judges, as well as landing her on the Emmy Awards's 2004 list of greatest television moments. "Summertime", was also labeled by idol judge, Randy Jackson, as the best performance he had ever heard in the show's history.

Nevertheless, Barrino's rise to the final two on American Idol was plagued with controversies, including accusations of racism when she and two other well-praised African American female singers in the competition, LaToya London and Jennifer Hudson, all landed in the bottom three of that week's voting. Guest artist Elton John labeled the outcome "racist" and did not address alternative explanations, such as the diluting effects of spreading the vote of R&B fans over three singers. Other concerns were raised over her as a single mother being a poor role model.

In the final performance of the season that formed the basis upon which America voted, Barrino offered a second performance of "Summertime" that again drew enormous praise from the judges — including Simon Cowell's remarks that she was the best contestant to ever compete in any competition. This would include the over seventy Idol champions crowned nationally and internationally since the show began its first global incarnations. On the finale, over sixty-five million votes were cast in order to determine the winner on May 26 2004, up from twenty-four million in 2003. It is still the highest finale vote in the show's history. In the end Fantasia beat runner-up Diana DeGarmo by 1.3 million votes.

Barrino participated in the U.S. tour with the other American Idol finalists and appeared in the 2004 Christmas special, Kelly, Ruben and Fantasia: Home For the Holidays.

2004–2005: Free Yourself

Now billed as just Fantasia, she released her first single in June 2004 on the RCA record label. The single included "I Believe" – co-written by former Idol contestant Tamyra Gray (who was also a backing singer on it) – which Barrino performed on the finale of Idol, the Aretha Franklin hit "Chain of Fools", and her signature version of "Summertime". The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making Barrino the first artist to do so with her first record. On the sales chart, the single spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one, giving it the longest consecutive stay on top of of that chart for an American Idol contestant. The CD single, "I Believe", went on to become the top selling single of 2004 in the U.S., and has since been certified double platinum by the CRIA. Barrino also won three Billboard Awards for the single.

Barrino's debut studio album, Free Yourself, was released in November 2004. It debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 pop album chart, selling 240,000 copies in its first week. To date, it has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the U.S. The singles "Truth Is" and "Free Yourself" became R&B hits, reaching number two and number three respectively on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart, while the controversial "Baby Mama" – which critics accused of romanticising single motherhood – reached the top twenty. Barrino did even better on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay, where she was the first artist of any kind to simultaneously have two of the top three songs , and "Truth Is" spent fourteen weeks at number one position. In 2006, Fantasia was nominated for four Grammy Awards. Fantasia performed with several well-known artists including Aerosmith, Joss Stone, John Legend, Maroon 5, and Ciara in an all-star tribute to Sly and the Family Stone during the Grammy Awards.

Through spring and winter of 2005, Barrino made many television appearances to promote her album. She played Aretha Franklin in an episode of the series American Dreams, singing "Respect", guest voiced on The Simpsons episode "A Star Is Torn", and guest starred as herself in a cameo role on the sitcom All of Us. Barrino appeared three times as a musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 25 2005, Barrino performed at the thirty-sixth NAACP Image Awards in honor of Illinois Senator Barack Obama after winning the award for Outstanding Female Artist. In May and June 2005 Barrino went on her first tour with her own live band, supporting soul singers Kem and Rahsaan Patterson. She also appeared as a headliner at several music festivals including the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival and the Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica. In October 2005, she received good notices as an opening act for Kanye West's Touch the Sky Tour.

In September 2005, Barrino published her memoirs (which she dictated to a freelance writer), Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The book quickly became a New York Times Bestseller, reaching number seven on the list. In it she revealed that she was functionally illiterate. She discussed this in an interview on ABC's 20/20 , saying she hadn't been able to read contracts, and she simply memorized the songs she was told to perform and sing on her records.

Barrino played herself in a Lifetime Television film based on her autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film was directed by Debbie Allen and debuted on the women’s cable network on Saturday, August 19 2006 at 21:00. The movie received nineteen million viewers throughout its debut weekend. Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story has also become Lifetime's second most viewed program of all time.

2006–present: Fantasia and The Color Purple

In summer 2006, Barrino discontinued work with 19 Management and fired all of her advisors from the American Idol company. The singer eventually found a new management team with Violator Management, and soon released her self-titled sophomore album, Fantasia, on December 12 2006. The album involves production by Missy Elliott, Swizz Beatz, Dre & Vidal, Diane Warren, and others, and has since spawned the singles "Hood Boy" and "When I See U".

In 2007, Fantasia left her new management company and found new management back at 19 Management. Fantasia will be featured on Aretha Franklin's new album A Woman Falling out of Love. On Saturday 27th January Fantasia was featured on the nationally televised United Negro College Fund's An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Aretha Franklin where she performed, "Baby, I Love You" and Rock Steady".. In early 2007, Fantasia was listed on Blender.com's list of the hottest women in music.

In February 2007, Fantasia appeared and performed on American Idol, and there she announced that she will be starring in the Broadway musical The Color Purple beginning April 10, 2007. Incidentally, her friend and American Idol competitor, Latoya London, will star as Nettie in the Chicago run of the same show.

After Fantasia performed "The Color Purple" song, "I'm Here", on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the musical received a boost of over two million in pre- ticket sales in one week. Leading up to Fantasia's first performance the play garnered a total of 6.5 million in pre-ticket sales. Upon Fantasia's first performance of The Color Purple she received raving reviews from both attenders and Broadway critics. The Broadway Theatre and The Color Purple's house record were broken within Fantasia's first week on the show.

Discography

Albums

• 2004: Free Yourself
• 2006: Fantasia

Singles

Major singles

Awards

Wins

• 2004 Billboard single of the year - "I Believe"
• 2004 Billboard Top selling R&B/Hip-Hop single of the year - "I Believe"
• 2005 Billboard-American Urban Radio Networks Top R&B/hip-hop single (sales) - "I Believe"
• 2005 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist
• 2006 Groovevolt Music Awards - Best New Artist
• 2006 ASCAP R&B/Hip-Hop Awards - "Free Yourself"
• 2006 ASCAP R&B/Hip-Hop Awards - "Truth Is"

Nominations

• Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Free Yourself
• Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, Free Yourself
• Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance Summertime
• Grammy Award for Best R&B Song, "Free Yourself"
• 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist "Fantasia"
• 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatical Special - "Fantasia Barrino"

See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 (U.S.) chart achievements and trivia

External links

• Fantasia Barrino's official site
• Fantasia's Myspace Page
• Fantasia Barrino at IMDb
• "Color Purple" on Broadway Offcial Site
• Official LINAFT Movie Website

Notes

• Excerpt: "Life Is Not a Fairy Tale", by Fantasia

Template:American Idol winners

• 1984 births
• African-American singers
• Cuban-Americans
• American female singers
• American Idol participants
• African Americans
• American memoirists
• American pop singers
• American rhythm and blues singers
• American soul singers
• Baptists from the United States
• Performers of Christian music
• Living people
• North Carolina musicians
• People from North Carolina
• Idol series winners
• Rhythmic contemporary musicians
• Rape victims