Fantasia

A church-bred powerhouse in the tradition of Tina Turner and Patti LaBelle, Fantasia terms her sound "rock soul" and does much more than fuse those two genres, covering everything from classic pop and traditional gospel to adult contemporary and modern R&B. The singer and actress effectively launched her career on American Idol with a show-stopping version of George Gershwin's "Summertime," and she won the competition's third season with her performance of "I Believe" (2004), an eventual number one pop hit. Through the RIAA-certified albums Free Yourself (2004) and Fantasia (2006), the singer affirmed that she was more than simply the winner of a talent show, and it wasn't long before she achieved even greater acclaim with "Bittersweet" (2010), a ballad that won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. As acting roles on-stage and in television piled up, Fantasia also remained a stalwart of old-school R&B throughout the next decade with her third, fourth, and fifth Top Ten pop LPs, including The Definition Of... (2016). Her sixth proper album, Sketchbook (2019), helped establish her independent Rock Soul label. Since starring in the theatrical film adaptation of the musical version of The Color Purple -- reprising her Broadway and touring role as Celie -- Fantasia has released the gospel single "Have Your Way" (2025).

Born and raised in High Point, North Carolina, Fantasia Monique Barrino -- a niece of the Barrino Brothers and a cousin of brothers K-Ci and Jojo Hailey -- fell in love with music through a mix of artists including Aretha Franklin, Brandy, P!nk, and Aerosmith. She began singing at the age of five and toured the South as part of her family's gospel group. Fantasia drove to Atlanta to successfully audition for the third season of American Idol, and she reached the top by adjusting her style to whatever genre was thrown at her. Among the songs she performed were "Killing Me Softly with His Song" (popularized by Roberta Flack), "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (popularized by Gladys Knight & the Pips), and "Summertime" (George Gershwin), followed by the likes of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (by Queen) and "Chain of Fools" (popularized by Aretha Franklin). Upon prevailing over Diana DeGarmo, Fantasia's first words as American Idol 2004 were "I broke my shoe!" A cameo on the television show American Dreams, playing the role of her beloved Aretha Franklin, followed shortly thereafter.

Fantasia became the second solo artist (after Lauryn Hill) to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her debut single, "I Believe," an inspirational ballad co-written by Idol alum Tamyra Gray. J Records released Fantasia's full-length debut, Free Yourself, in November 2004. Featuring additional hits "Truth Is" (number 21 pop, number one Adult R&B) and "Free Yourself" (also number one Adult R&B), the album went platinum. The singer was also nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Free Yourself"), and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance ("Summertime"). A year later, Fantasia published Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, an autobiography that would subsequently be developed into a Lifetime film, directed by Debbie Allen, in which Fantasia starred as herself. Her second album, simply titled Fantasia, landed in December 2006. It debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 and eventually went gold. It was driven by its second single, "When I See You," Fantasia's third Top 40 pop hit and her first number one on the R&B/hip-hop chart. Both the album and that hit were up for Grammys. Around the same time, Fantasia was cast in a Broadway production of The Color Purple, leading to similar work in a touring production. In 2008, fellow American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson tapped Fantasia for the duet "I'm His Only Woman," and it was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the following Grammy ceremony.

Fantasia began the next decade with Back to Me, a 2010 release led by a pair of Chuck Harmony-produced singles with "I'm Doin' Me" (number 11 R&B/hip-hop) and "Bittersweet" (number seven R&B/hip-hop). Just as notably, the album contained Fantasia's first two songs as co-writer, "Teach Me" and "Move on Me." Early the following year, "Bittersweet" won a Grammy in the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The singer's fourth album, Side Effects of You, was released in 2013. The set featured the Commodores-sampling "Lose to Win" and an additional Top Ten Adult R&B single, "Without Me," featuring Missy Elliott and Kelly Rowland. Fantasia co-wrote both hits and four other songs. Once again, the Recording Academy took notice with Grammy nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best R&B Song (for "Without Me"), and Best Traditional R&B Performance (for "Get It Right").

In 2016, following a co-headlining tour with Anthony Hamilton, Fantasia released The Definition Of..., a varied set that moved from rock-R&B hybrids to pop-flavored contemporary R&B to gospel. Her fourth Top Ten album, it was the source of two more Top Ten Adult R&B singles, "No Time for It" and "Sleeping with the One I Love." The latter was yet another Grammy-nominated recording for Best Traditional R&B Performance. A holiday LP, Christmas After Midnight, was out the next year and launched Fantasia's Rock Soul label, supported by Concord Music Group. The singer closed out the decade in September 2019 with Sketchbook, her sixth proper album. True to its title, Fantasia co-wrote every song, and even though most of her collaborators were known primarily for gospel, she filled the album with assorted styles such as pop-R&B, adult contemporary, gospel-blues, and even dancehall.

Having starred in Broadway and touring productions of The Color Purple, Fantasia was the natural choice to reprise her starring role as Celie in the 2023 film adaptation of the musical based on Alice Walker's 1982 novel. Fantasia earned a NAACP Image award for her big screen debut, and of course was a key attraction on both The Color Purple and The Color Purple . Also in 2023, Fantasia was featured on brother Ricco's "Lets Dance." Two years later, Ricco produced Fantasia's return single, "Have Your Way," her first recording released through Gamma (or gamma.). ~ Andy Kellman & David Jeffries