Fantasia Barrino is the definition of determination when it comes to being successful. She went through many trials in life while on her journey to be someone in the music industry, in which American Idol was incredibly helpful through that. I would identify Fantasia as one of the best artists out of a handful, that came from the TV show “American Idol.”
Fantasia Barrino was born June 30th, 1984 to her parents Diane and Joseph Barrino in High Point, NC. Singing has always been a part of her life since she was 5 years old, due to being brought up in church and her family having their own music group. The R&B group we all know as “Ki-Ci & JoJo” were her first cousins and her uncles came together to form a group called the “Barrino Brothers.” As she got older she still clung to singing as a talent but came upon a rough patch when she reached the age of 17. She experienced sexual assault from a peer in high school and soon dropped out due to the backlash of reporting it. Not too long after she became a teen mom and also experienced domestic violence from her child’s father as well. Her life went downhill in a matter of seconds all at the age of 17. A life changing event took place after she auditioned for a spot on the well known tv show, “American Idol.”
Fantasia Barrino auditioned for American Idol during Season 3 and was referred to as “The best we’ve ever had” by Simon Cowell which was definitely true as she continued to pass all rounds throughout the season. For the finale she performed 3 songs: “Summertime”, “All My Life” and “I Believe”, winning and becoming the youngest winner of American Idol in May, 2003. After this episode her song “I Believe” became a hit, this was just the beginning to her professional musical career.
After American Idol, Fantasia quickly on the rise to fame. In 2004, she released her first single “I Believe” which #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, she was the first solo artist to hit #1 with a first released single. She then released her first album, “Free Yourself” in 2004. It was even bigger than her first single, this album went platinum, continuously on the billboards and was nominated for 3 Grammy’s. She went on her first tour in May 2005 with a live band and opening singers: Kem and Rashaan Patterson. She also opened for other artist like Kanye West during his tour in 2005, along with Common, Keyshia Cole and others. In 2006, she released her second album “Fantasia”.
Top 3: Free Yourself Album
The Start of Acting and Television
Though Fantasia was a singer she also had a small career in television. She played as Aretha Franklin on an episode of the TV show, “American Dreams” to sing one of Aretha’s greatest hits, Respect. She played Celie in the Broadway musical, The Color Purple. She made appearances a few times for interviews on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Oprah and more. She did performances on the NAACP Image Awards, 48th annual telecasts, and American Idol. Her biggest work in the television industry was when she released her own movie, The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairytale. The film was incredibly interesting and shocking to learn many things about her. In this film, she revealed that she was illiterate and her experiences with assault and teen pregnancy. After this film was released, her father tried to sue her due to the way she made his character seem on the autobiography, he deemed the actions displayed about him on there to be false.
In 2010, Fantasia came out with a family based reality TV show called Fantasia For Real. Her TV show lasted for two seasons until it ended and followed her as she dealt with her families problems while trying to work on her music career after taking a break. She went through a lot after her career started to not be as big as it use to. Letting stress overtake her, she attempted suicide. Her show captures these moments as well and the struggle one goes through to be a superstar.
Getting Back To The Music
In regards to making new music, Fantasia knew that whatever she released next had to do well. In 2010, she decided to release her album, “Back to Me.” Her top hit from the album was “Bittersweet”, with “Collard Greens and Cornbread” and “Falling In Love Tonight” falling in behind. “Bittersweet” was on the charts and did well just as she had planned.
In her late career, Fantasia still continued to produce music and still does currently. Her last album was released in 2019 known as, “Sketchbook.” She still performs at other artists shows such as Anthony Hamilton’s in 2016, award shows in regards to the Grammy’s in 2019 where payed tribute to the passed, Aretha Franklin. Music is still a part of her life, it isn’t just as big as it was but she’ll always be known for her success and impact on American Idol as well as the music industry. Currently, she’s married and expecting her 3rd child, a baby girl this year. A fun fact is, her oldest daughter Zion will be attending Spelman College as an incoming freshman in Fall 2021.
Jennifer Hudson and Jazmine Sullivan are not exactly like Fantasia but they do have similarities when it comes to vocals, music careers and experiences. Every artist is different in their own way but from my view these two artists relate to Fantasia the most.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson is a singer and actress who also went on American Idol, just as Fantasia did. She participated in Season 3 and was eliminated when performing in the Top 7. Many referred to her getting eliminated as “shocking” due to the talent she had. She began to take on actress roles such as Effie in Dream Girls, where she acted and sung. One of the songs called, “And I Am Telling You” in the film became very popular. Originally it was sung by Jennifer Holliday but Jennifer Hudson sung it so well and won a few awards for her role. She did music here and there but was mainly focused on acting and singing in films. But one of her top songs “Spotlight” from her album Jennifer Hudson, hit the billboard charts and was nominated for two Grammy awards. In the same album, she also had a song featuring Fantasia called I’m His Only Woman. These two women have worked together, experienced American Idol while also dipping into acting. They both have that gospel singing voice you can’t get from just anyone.
Jazmine Sullivan
Jazmine Sullivan has been involved with music her entire life growing up, just as Fantasia. She grew up singing in a children’s choir and later on went to an Art’s School and majored in vocal music. Sullivan became popular years later after Fantasia in 2008 when she released Need You Bad. This song hit the billboard charts and she continued to make hits after releasing her albums Fearless and Love Me Back. She disappeared for a while and stepped away from the music industry until around 2014. Since then she has dropped some hits, here and there but her voice is unforgettable. Her most recent works have been her album Heaux Tales, which has received major attention. She has a unique gospel singing voice just like Hudson and Barrino. All of these ladies have shown how they can step away from the music world but still be amazing at what they do.
Artists who influenced Fantasia’s music and her career path consist of Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, and Tina Turner. She had a great relationship with Aretha Franklin, Fantasia mentioned that she had always given her relationship advice and tough love. She sang at Aretha’s funeral and also did a tribute to her at the 2019 Grammy Awards Show. She had a great relationship with Patti LaBelle as well and made a song with her and Yolanda Adams called I Wish, used in the soundtrack for the movie Happy Feet. LaBelle has always referred to Fantasia as “baby Patti” because she sees Fantasia as herself when she was younger. Fantasia has performed many tributes to Tina Turner and was influenced by her through the use of a raspy voice in her music.
There currently are no documented events where Fantasia has been involved in volunteer work or giving back to the community. She has went broke before by trusting the wrong people with her money and has had plenty of financial problems. So this may be the reason of her not financially giving back to the community. She may have been involved with the community plenty of times in private or without it being documented as well.
Despite Fantasia’s life experiences that may have tried to stop her from success, she overcame. She didn’t let her struggles make her, from being a teen mom to being assaulted and more. Her impact on the music industry is important as well as her growth. She is absolutely a legacy from American Idol and truly one of a kind. She has been blessed with a loving husband and more children while still making music and trying new things in music in regards to her new album, “Sketchbook.”
Butler, H. (2017, May 13). Life Is Not A Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story 2006. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bXALNCxigM
Dixon, C. (2020, August 11). The Stunning Transformation of Fantasia Barrino. Retrieved from https://www.thelist.com/235396/the-stunning-transformation-of-fantasia-barrino/
Fantasia (singer). (2021, March 23). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_(singer)
Fantasia Barrino. (2021, March 24). Retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/fantasia-barrino
Fantasia Barrino Biography – Grew Up In “Shouting Church”, Studied During Early Idol Rounds, Won American Idol Competition. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://biography.jrank.org/pages/2785/Barrino-Fantasia.html
Harris, R. (2019, December 04). Fantasia talks with “the Real” hosts about Regretting suicide Attempt: “I Just Wanted Out”. Retrieved from https://balleralert.com/profiles/blogs/fantasia-talks-with-the-real-hosts-about-regretting-suicide-attempt/
The Oprah Magazine. (2006, January 01). Oprah Talks to Fantasia Barrino. Retrieved from https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-talks-to-fantasia-barrino/all
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