Who is fantasia barrino

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See more ». Alternate Names: Fantasia Fantasia Taylor. Height: 5' 7" 1. Spouse: Kendall Taylor 1 child. When Fantasia's song "I Believe" topped Billboard Hot on July 1, , Fantasia Barrino became the first solo artist in the history of the Billboard Hot to debut at number one with their very first chart appearance.

Was physically, verbally, and emotionally abused by ex-boyfriend Brandel Shouse, who is also the father of her daughter Zion Quari Barrino. Released her autobiography and best selling book "Life is Not a Fairy Tale" Dropped out of high school after a sexual assault that left her feeling embarrassed and harassed.

Auditioned for the role of Effie White in the movie Dreamgirls , but lost out to Jennifer Hudson. Confirmed that she had fallen pregnant by her married lover Antwaun Cook, whom she began an affair with in December , but had an abortion three months previously 25 November Announced that she was four months pregnant with her first child by her married lover Antwaun Cook 31 July Gave birth to her second child at age 27, a son Dallas Xavier Barrino on December 13, Child's father is her ex-lover, Antwaun Cook.

Returned to work four months after giving birth to her son Dallas to begin recording her fourth studio album. Was in a relationship with Brandel Shouse from to They have a daughter together. July 18, Married her boyfriend of a year Kendall Taylor following a 8-month-long engagement. Though the surname "Barrino" has often been speculated as being of Hispanic specifically Cuban origin, Fantasia's patrilineal "Barrino" ancestors have lived in North Carolina since the s, and were not of Hispanic origin.

The surname was likely originally spelled "Barrineau". It reminds me of His power. Then at the age of 17, Barrino became pregnant. Barrino explained that people thought that, with her singing talent, she "was supposed to grow up and do something" but after she became pregnant, everyone assumed she was "goin' nowhere.

Barrino, who had struggled in school before dropping out, had trouble finding a job as she "wasn't good at counting" and couldn't even fill out a job application as she "wasn't a strong enough reader. But that wasn't enough to take care of both her and her daughter, Zion, so Barrino shoplifted other essentials like diapers and milk. As a single mom, Barrino also helped her grandmother run a day care facility. While she wasn't paid, her grandmother would give her "a little change" to buy things for Zion — who looks just like the singer.

When her daughter was 2, Fantasia Barrino was fed up. However, watching Ruben Studdard win American Idol inspired her to fight for her own dreams. So she borrowed her brother's car, filled the tank with scrounged money, and drove to the American Idol auditions in Atlanta. After making it through the first round of auditions, Barrino arrived at the second round to find that the doors were locked when she got there. Instead of giving up, Barrino started praying.

Then a security guard she'd struck up a conversation with the day before found an American Idol assistant to let her in, completely changing her life.

The rest is history. The year-old Barrino ended up winning, in spite of speculation that her vote count was hurt after the public learned she was a single mom. But the backlash just inspired Barrino to work even harder. After achieving success on American Idol in , Fantasia Barrino decided to turn her inspiring story into an autobiography. Not only did the book become a bestseller, but it was also turned into a film the following year: The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairytale.

Barrino starred in the film as herself, impressing the world with her acting talents. For Barrino, starring in the film was a challenge — and not just because she was new to acting. Filming the movie also required her to relive some of the most difficult moments of her life.

While she'd had a couple of small guest roles before starring in The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairytale , that role opened up new doors for Fantasia Barrino. Within a couple of years, she went from struggling single mom to a recording artist, bestselling author, actress, and Broadway star. Starring in the musical, which is based on the novel of the same name by Alice Walker, was a powerful experience for Barrino.

Notably, she has a lot in common with the character of Celie, who overcomes considerable adversity in the show. She suffers abuse, family separation, and domestic violence, but ultimately prevails and recognizes her own innate strength.

As Barrino told NPR , she didn't necessarily want to take on the role, but felt like she had to. 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 of the Porgy and Bess standard "Summertime" that left her in tears from "feeling the song" and earned praise from the judges--Randy Jackson has called it the best performance in the show's history--and was named to the Emmy Awards's list of greatest television moments.

Nevertheless, Fantasia's rise to the final two in American Idol was plagued with controversies, including accusations of racism when she and two other well-praised African American female singers in the competition, La Toya London and Jennifer Hudson, all landed in the bottom three of that week's voting. Guest artist Elton John labeled the outcome "racist". Other concerns were raised over her as a single mother being a poor role model for youth. For the final performance of the season, Fantasia offered a second performance of "Summertime" that again drew enormous praise from the judges; Simon Cowell remarked that she was the best contestant to ever compete in any competition, including the more than 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, , up from twenty-four million in It was the highest finale vote in the show's history until the May 23, American Idol Season 6 finale.

In the end, Fantasia defeated runner-up Diana DeGarmo by 1. At age nineteen, Fantasia was the youngest American Idol winner until May 23, , when the seventeen-year-old Jordin Sparks won the title. In June , Fantasia released her debut single, "I Believe", which later debuted at number-one on the Billboard Hot This number-one debut made Fantasia the first artist in history to achieve this with a first single. On the sales chart, the single spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one, giving it the longest consecutive stay on top of that chart for an American Idol contestant.

Barrino also won three Billboard Music Awards for the single. Fantasia released her debut studio album, Free Yourself, in November It debuted at number eight on the Billboard , selling , copies in its first week. To date, it has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the U.

Barrino was named the number-one artist of the Adult Urban Contemporary format for according to the December 13, issue of Billboard magazine. Through spring and winter of , Fantasia made many television appearances to promote her album. In May , Fantasia went on her first tour with her own live band, with soul singers Kem and Rashaan Patterson. The book quickly became a New York Times Bestseller, reaching number seven on the list. In it, she revealed that she was functionally illiterate.