Fantasia Barrino worked her way into the hearts of America through the culture-shifting musical
competition, American Idol.
The intense and sometimes hilarious reality series premiered in June 2002 with its original
set of judges: Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell.
Barrino competed on Season 3 of American Idol in 2004 and quickly grew to being a fan-favorite
with her super soft speaking voice, but roaring singing voice.
She went on to win the competition after a performance of the classic Porgy and Bess
song "Summertime."
Her performance, which left herself and many audience members in tears, immediately catapulted
her career.
Prior to becoming a TV icon, the 35-year-old singer was a teen mom.
Barrino had her daughter Zion Quari at 16 with her ex-boyfriend Brandel Shouse.
She later had her second child, son Dallas Xavier, with another father.
Zion Quari, who turns 19 in August 2020, is a high school graduate, and like many other
teens, is living her best life on Instagram through the medium of the selfie.
As a result, fans can easily see how much she looks like her musically gifted mom.
Fantasia Barrino's career was extremely successful following her American Idol title.
After defeating her final opponent Diana DeGarmo by 1.3 million votes, the then-19-year-old
mother-of-one went on to have a successful career.
Her debut album Free Yourself was released in November 2004 and debuted at number eight
on the Billboard Top 200 list.
She quickly became a popular R&B singer and found placements on the Billboard Hot R&B
and Hip-Hop Songs list with singles "Truth Is" and "Free Yourself."
Outside of her music, Fantasia found a variety of ways to get her voice heard.
In 2004, she played Aretha Franklin in the TV series American Dreams and even made a
cameo on The Simpsons a year later.
Her debut on stage as Celie in the 2007 Broadway musical The Color Purple broadened her horizons
further, receiving rave reviews from many publications, including the Los Angeles Times,
which described her work as resonant, joyous, and radiant.
Since her American Idol win, Fantasia has become a legend of her own right outside of
just R&B music.
She was the first artist of any genre to have two songs in the top three of the Billboard
Hot Adult R&B Airplay.
Her first single from her debut album "I Believe" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot
100 chart list, which was a first in the publication's history.
Barrino even had a Lifetime movie special, The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a
Fairytale, which documented her turbulent early years.
The movie, in which Barrino played herself, became the second most-viewed original movie
for the channel.
Although the singer's life has been in the spotlight, the same can't be said for her
look-alike daughter Zion, who's now almost the same age Fantasia was when she appeared
on American Idol.
As for her, not much is known about the teen from Charlotte, North Carolina who seems to
maintain a pretty private life.
Her Instagram profile is strictly selfies with a few cameos from her mom and emoji-heavy
captions.
Who knows if Zion will follow in her mom's musical footsteps, but she could have a successful
career in the modeling world.
As for mama Fantasia, she appears to have dedicated her life to Zion.
In an interview for O, The Oprah Magazine in September 2007, Fantasia recalled the moment
that she realized American Idol might give her a way to provide her daughter with a better
life.
She said she could remember,
"My daughter was about 2...I remember all my friends talking about the show, but I never
watched until the episode Ruben Studdard won.
I just cried and cried...I was crying because someone had finally gotten something he wanted.
I was also a little angry: Why am I sitting here in the ghetto, living on food stamps
and a tiny government check?"
Luckily, her talent for performance and her American Idol win catapulted her and Zion
out of poverty, changing both of their lives for the better.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebrity families are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.