Fantasia Barrino became a superstar after rising to fame on American Idol — winning
the third season of the iconic competition. But while the show may have been her big break,
she sure hasn't stopped hustling since. Here's a closer look at how Fantasia is still turning
heads.
While she couldn't have known she would one day become a professional singer, Fantasia
did realize that she had some serious pipes, at an early age. Entertainment Weekly reported
that by the age of 5, her dad was even encouraging her to sing at family events. Fantasia also
grew up singing in church, where her mother and grandmother were ministers.
"Everybody on my father's side sings. First cousins K-Ci & JoJo. We started in the church,
so that means I love music."
But her dad wasn't the only one to notice her talent. As she told O magazine, a woman
was once moved to tears by Fantasia's vocal stylings. At the time, Fantasia was just 9
years old.
"I knew I was different. I knew I had a calling on my life. There was something about me."
She went on to put her talents to good use by singing with the family gospel group, the
Barrino Family. Fantasia toured with them, and even sang on two albums that they produced
while she was still in school.
Fantasia's childhood wasn't an easy one. Although she saw early success in her career, touring
with the Barrino Family meant that she missed a lot of school, subsequently falling behind
in her studies. Fantasia told O magazine,
"I had low self-esteem. I seemed so different from other kids; I grew up in church and felt
a connection with God, and a lot of kids my age really didn't understand that."
Fantasia was also bullied by other kids about her looks. Then in high school, she was assaulted
by a fellow student. While she reported the incident with the support of her mother, she
claimed that the assailant's friends had also threatened to attack her. The harassment soon
grew to be too much, and Fantasia dropped out of school at 14.
"Ninth grade that was it for me. I said, that's it 'I'm out.'"
Things only grew more difficult for Fantasia after she walked away from her education.
A boyfriend moved in with her, but didn't treat her well. Then at the age of 17, she
got pregnant. She told O,
"That's when everybody seemed to give up on me. I was the girl who could sing and was
supposed to grow up and do something with my life. But […] people were like, 'She
ain't goin' nowhere now.' I'd lost myself."
Fantasia had trouble finding a job and couldn't even fill out an application, due to her reading
level. She barely got by with government assistance. And even that wasn't enough to cover both
herself and her daughter, Zion, so Fantasia resorted to shoplifting other essentials like
diapers and milk. She remembered,
"Living like that was hard."
As a single mom, Fantasia also helped her grandmother run a daycare facility. While
she didn't get paid, her grandmother would give her, quote, "change" to buy necessities
for Zion.
When her daughter was 2, Fantasia claims even she was at a point where she had given up
on herself. But watching Ruben Studdard win American Idol inspired a renewed fire in her,
to fight for her own dreams. So she borrowed her brother's car and drove to Idol auditions
in Atlanta.
After making it through the first round, she arrived at the second round only to find that
the doors were locked. Instead of giving up, Fantasia started praying. Then a security
guard she'd struck up a conversation with the day before found an assistant to let her
in. She remembered,
"Out of more than 40,000 people, I was the last person to audition."
"The winner of American Idol 2004 is…Fantasia Barrino."
The 19-year-old singer walked away with the prize, in spite of speculation that her vote
count was damaged after the public learned she was a single mom. But the backlash only
inspired her to work even harder. She told MTV News,
"I'm a strong woman now. I fought so that my child can have the best."
After positively crushing it on Idol in 2004, Fantasia decided to turn her inspiring story
into an autobiography. As noted by the New York Post, her literary debut brought even
more accolades; she became a bestselling author with 2005's Life Is Not A Fairy Tale.
Not only did the book become a bestseller, it was also adapted into a film the following
year: The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairytale. Fantasia starred in the film
as herself, stunning with her newly minted acting chops, as well. The film garnered a
nomination for Outstanding TV Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special at the 2007 NAACP Image
Awards. Fantasia was also nominated for an award that year, for Outstanding Actress in
a TV Movie.
But for Fantasia starring in the film was a challenge — and not just because she was
new to acting. Filming also required her to relive some of the most difficult moments
of her life. She admitted to the Washington Post,
"It's definitely harder than it looks."
While she'd had a couple of small guest roles before starring in the movie about her life,
that headlining role opened up new doors for the actress. Within a couple of years, Fantasia
went from struggling single mom to a recording artist, bestselling author, actress, and Broadway
star. In 2007, she took on the role of Celie in The Color Purple, making her the first
Idol winner to star on Broadway, according to Playbill.
And it turned out that stepping into that spotlight was a powerful experience for the
singer-actress. Notably, she has a lot in common with her character, who overcomes considerable
adversity in the show. She suffers abuse, family separation, and domestic violence,
but ultimately prevails and recognizes her own inner strength. Fantasia claimed she didn't
initially want to take on the role, but felt like she had to, telling NPR,
"When I put my outfit on, I'm no longer Fantasia. I am Celie. […] I am that woman when I'm
on that stage and people are being touched."
"She came out a strong woman and so did I."
In 2010, Fantasia again starred on a reality show, but this one was quite different from
American Idol. She had been juggling her music and her personal life for more than half a
decade at that point, and was dealing with a lot of negative press — including gossip
that she was facing foreclosure on her home. In order to combat the rumor mill, she told
the AP that she wasn't facing money problems. Instead, she'd trusted the wrong people, leading
to her losing her fortune and her house being put up for auction, not foreclosure.
Fantasia vowed she would rebuild her destiny, and part of that was starring on her own reality
series, VH1's Fantasia for Real. She explained to The Futon Critic,
"I kind of wanted to clear out the rumors and all of the true and the false and let
everyone hear it from my mouth."
The same year that she launched her reality show, Fantasia reached a tragic breaking point.
The pressures of fame, combined with the accusation that she was having an affair with a married
man, culminated in the singer overdosing on sleeping pills and aspirin in August of 2010.
Barrino later told Good Morning America that the attempt on her life resulted because:
"I think I was just overloaded with everything. […] I think it was just six years of everything,
of me holding all that stuff on the inside and not letting it out. […] I got very,
very tired."
"There were a lot of things that people had already set up to try to not let me in certain
doors."
Years later, Fantasia looked back on that dark time as the biggest regret of her life.
In an appearance on The Real in 2019, the singer claimed that she wasn't necessarily
trying to end her life, but she said,
"I just wanted to be away from all the noise. If I could do that over, I would change that."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.
After struggling through what was possibly the darkest time of her life, Fantasia emerged
more determined than ever to find happiness again. And one of the ways she did this was
by making a commitment to herself — and she even put a ring on it. During an appearance
on Harry Connick Jr.'s talk show, in 2017, Fantasia claimed she decided to marry herself
for a very important reason, sharing,
"I felt like before true love could come I needed to learn how to love myself again,
and so for me I just forgot about myself."
"I always go to church and I always give God praise. Because if it had not been for the
Lord on my side, I wouldn't be sitting right here right now."
She explained that she'd finally realized that she was focusing too much on others and
not enough on herself, to the point that she was actually neglecting her own needs. Fantasia's
Christian faith also helped guide her through that difficult time, as did breaking some
bad habits. She clearly made up her mind to change her life for the better — and she
did it.
In 2015, Fantasia got married again — this time, legally, and to another person. And
while she was thrilled to tie the knot, the public wasn't too impressed, especially after
she made public comments about their relationship.
Fantasia married Kendall Taylor after knowing him for just three weeks. She was impressed
by how the former felon turned his life around and started his own business. But that wasn't
what had people up in arms. When she stopped by The Breakfast Club, Fantasia shared her
belief that women should submit to their husbands, urging other ladies to, quote, "let your man
lead the way." While she said that men and women can be equal, she believes the man should
be the king and the woman should be the queen in a hetero relationship.
"Love is a, it's a, it's a…everybody wants it, but it's work. You have to work at it."
Of course, Fantasia's comments were met with heavy backlash, which she and her husband
later addressed on Instagram. In the video, Taylor described her yielding to her husband
as,
"A beautiful song and dance between two lovers. [A] gift."
In spite of the fame and fortune that have come her way over the years, Fantasia has
refused to lose sight of who she is. Instead, she has remained true to the promise that
she made right after winning Idol. She had once shared with MTV News,
"I'm still not gonna change. All I have now is a story to tell, which I will through my
music."
Fantasia also remains grateful for what she has. In an interview on the Tammi Mac Show
in 2019, the singer said that she's still living her life as down-to-earth as possible,
revealing,
"I'm regular. I don't like to be, I don't, I don't like the whole celebrity thing."
While some stars might have people to drive them around, do their grocery shopping, and
cook for them, Fantasia does all of those things for herself. She added,
"I'm from North Carolina; my grandma and my mama taught me how to cook."
In 2019, Fantasia announced that she was forging a new career as an independent artist and
parting ways with major labels. As noted by the Chicago Tribune, she spent years with
RCA Records, but decided to go indie with her album Sketchbook.
"People haven't seen this Fantasia in a while."
But going independent wasn't just a way for the artist to assert control over her music;
it was something she said that she'd always wanted to do. The album was released on her
own label, Rock Soul, with Fantasia claiming that she was, quote, "starting over from scratch."
The transition came after years of going head-to-head with record execs. She told the Houston Chronicle,
"It was a fight when I was with a label. You can’t really do things the way you want
to do them. You have to bow down to everybody else’s vision. […] You should be able
to do […] what you want."
"I'm a soul singer. And that means I sing what I feel."
2019's Sketchbook truly provided Fantasia a chance to shine as the album bounced from
genre to genre, showing off the singer's dynamic range. As she told People magazine,
"I don't want people to stick me in a box."
In 2019, Fantasia announced that she was stepping away from constant touring. While she said
she would still continue to make new music, she was tired of her career keeping her away
from home and her loved ones. In an appearance on The Real, she revealed,
"I don't want to miss anything. When you're on tour, it's too much."
Throughout all of her ups and downs, a devotion to family has remained one of the constants
in Fantasia's life. On the Yes, Girl podcast, she revealed that she's even a volunteer at
her son's school. She said,
"I don't want my kids to ever grow up and be like, 'my momma was never there for this.'"
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about your favorite
celebs are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss
a single one.