About Fantasia
Fantasia Monique Barrino-Taylor , known professionally by her mononym Fantasia, is an American singer and actress. She rose to prominence in 2004 for her performance of the Porgy and Bess standard "Summertime" during the third season of American Idol, and eventually became that season's winner. Following her victory, Barrino became the second woman to have her first single debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, following Lauryn Hill, when her debut single "I Believe", launched atop the chart. Her accolades include two Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy Award, along with nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. In 2024, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people.
Barrino's debut album Free Yourself , was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America . The album garnered three Grammy Award nominations, including Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for her recording of "Summertime". She went on to release the hit single "When I See U", from her second album Fantasia , recorded the duet "Put You Up on Game" with Aretha Franklin in 2007, and released later albums Back to Me and Side Effects of You , with both peaking at number-two on the Billboard 200. Her single "Bittersweet", won her a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 2011.
Barrino released her New York Times Best-Selling autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale , which was adapted into the 2006 television film, which she starred in. She portrayed Celie Johnson in the Broadway musical The Color Purple from 2007 to 2008, which earned her a Theatre World Award for Best Debut Performance. She reprised her role in the 2023 film adaptation, for which she earned nominations for a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actress and won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture.
Barrino was born to Diane and Joseph Barrino and raised in High Point, North Carolina. She began singing at the age of five. R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo are her first cousins. Her uncles, The Barrino Brothers, were a 1970s R&B band.
She attended Andrews High School in High Point, North Carolina. Feeling embarrassed and harassed after she was raped by a classmate, she dropped out of high school. She became pregnant at 16, and on August 8, 2001, she gave birth to a daughter with her ex-boyfriend Brandel Shouse.
Barrino's show was a staging of the Porgy and Bess standard "Summertime" that left her in tears from "feeling the song" and earned praise from the judges and was named amongst the AOL's 2004 list of greatest television moments.
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