[edit] 2004–2005: Free Yourself
After winning American Idol, Fantasia signed to J Records with 19 Entertainment and began work on her debut album. In June 2004, she released her debut single, "I Believe", which later debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This number-one debut made Fantasia the first artist in history to achieve this with a first single.[9] 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. The CD single, "I Believe", went on to become the top selling single of 2004 in the U.S., and has since been certified double platinum by the CRIA. Barrino also won three Billboard Music Awards for the single.
Fantasia released her debut studio album, Free Yourself, in November 2004. It debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, selling 240,000 copies in its first week. To date, it has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was certified Platinum in the U.S. The singles "Truth Is" and "Free Yourself" became R&B hits, reaching number two and number three respectively on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while the controversial "Baby Mama" - which critics accused of romanticizing single motherhood[10] - reached the top twenty. Barrino did even better on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay, where she was the first artist of any kind to simultaneously hold the top two spots of the top three,[11] and "Truth Is" spent fourteen weeks at the number one position. Barrino was named the number-one artist of the Adult Urban Contemporary format for 2005 according to the December 13, 2005 issue of Billboard magazine.
Through the spring and winter of 2005, Fantasia made many television appearances to promote her album. She played Aretha Franklin in an episode of the series American Dreams, singing "Respect", guest voiced on The Simpsons episode "A Star Is Torn", and guest starred as herself in a cameo role on the sitcom All of Us. She appeared three times as a musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On March 25, 2005, Fantasia performed at the thirty-sixth NAACP Image Awards in honor of Illinois Senator Barack Obama after winning the award for Outstanding Female Artist. In May 2005, Fantasia went on her first tour with her own live band, with soul singers Kem and Rashaan Patterson. She also appeared as a headliner at several music festivals including the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival and the Reggae Sumfest in Jamaica. In October 2005, she received good notices as an opening act for Kanye West's Touch the Sky Tour.[12]
[edit] 2006–2007: Fantasia and The Color Purple on Broadway
In 2006, Barrino was nominated for three Grammy Awards for her debut album. Though she did not win any awards, she performed at the 48th annual telecast with several artists including Aerosmith, Joss Stone, John Legend, Maroon 5, and Ciara in an all-star tribute to Sly and the Family Stone during the Grammy Award show.
In August 2006, Fantasia played herself in a Lifetime Television film based on her autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film was directed by Debbie Allen and debuted on the women’s cable network on August 19, 2006. The movie received nineteen million viewers throughout its debut weekend. Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story has also become Lifetime's second most viewed program of all time.[13]
Fantasia had many musical collaborations during the fall of 2006 including a remake of The Clark Sisters' "Endow Me" which featured Faith Evans, Lil' Mo, and Coko of SWV, a remake of Stevie Wonder's 1976 song "I Wish" with Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams for the soundtrack to the 2006 computer-animated film Happy Feet, and most notably her duet with Aretha Franklin which was recorded at that time and later released in 2007.
She released her self-titled second effort, Fantasia, on December 12, 2006. The album involved production by Missy Elliott, Swizz Beatz, Babyface, Diane Warren, and others, and has since spawned the singles "Hood Boy" produced by Tone Mason, "When I See U", and "Only One U" and went on to be certified gold.[14] "When I See You" became her first single to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, remaining at the number one spot for eight consecutive weeks. The single stayed on the chart for over a year and was named number eight on the Billboard Best of The 2000s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[15]
In February 2007, Fantasia appeared and performed on American Idol, and announced that she would be starring in the lead role of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, the hit musical based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. After appearing on American Idol and The Oprah Winfrey Show, the musical received a boost of over two million in pre-ticket sales in one week. Leading up to her first performance on April 10, 2007 the play garnered a total of 6.5 million in pre-ticket sales.
While playing the role, Fantasia earned rave reviews for her performance. New York Post critic Clive Barnes said, "... there is some elemental quality to Fantasia that is either greatness or something close to it." Upon her warm welcome to the stage Fantasia was asked to perform at the 2007 Tony Awards in a tribute to Atlanta's Alliance Theater in which The Color Purple got its start. In recognition of an outstanding stage debut performance, Fantasia was given the Theatre World Award and the Best Replacement Star Broadway.com Award. Fantasia was initially scheduled for a limited six-month engagement ending in October 2007 but had her run extended until January 6, 2008. The Color Purple box office saw a thirty-four-million-dollar jump in sales since Barrino started in the show, a third of the play's 100 million dollar earning since its debut in 2005. The New York Post reported that Barrino missed nearly fifty performances in the show, causing the producers to give back tens of thousands of dollars in refunds.[16] In the September 2008 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine, Barrino revealed that the reason for her absences in The Color Purple was because of the development of a cyst on her vocal cords. She was ordered to immediately undergo surgery which later revealed that she in fact had a tumor on her vocal cords. She now reports that after a successful surgery, the tumor was completely removed and she is now well.[17]
[edit] 2008–2010: Back to Me and Fantasia for Real
Fantasia received two Grammy nominations for her sophomore release, Fantasia and subsequently began work on her third studio album in 2008. She stated on the red carpet of the 2008 Grammy Awards that the style of the new album would be a blending of the avenues she has touched musically, which include American Idol and Broadway. She also revealed that she would be writing some of the album's songs and would collaborate again with Missy Elliott, The Underdogs, and Midi Mafia, who produced one of her biggest hits, "When I See U".
Midi Mafia produced the majority of Fantasia's third studio album.[18] Also, hip hop duo Rock City were confirmed to be writing for the new project. At the time, they had recorded four songs together. She also worked with songwriter/producer Rich King (Brandy "1st and love", Randy Jackson Music club vol.1, John Legend's "Quickly"), which spawned two songs with for her third release. KP, Eric Hudson and Raphael Saadiq are a few people that also became involved on the project. Fantasia confirmed that about 75% of the album was complete by mid-2009, and that fans should've expected a new single by the fall of 2009, with the album due to be released in early 2010. This was later delayed, and while recording her new album, Fantasia decided to do a great deal of it the "old fashioned way," inviting a live orchestra to record in the studio with her.[19]
Fantasia was then cast by Oprah Winfrey as Celie in the film adaptation of The Color Purple musical, which began production after the release of her third album, as Fantasia confirmed to MTV News on March 5, 2008.[20]
In June 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that Fantasia was dropped from 19 Entertainment because of creative differences, however, she will remain with 19 Recordings and J Records. She also revealed that after the release of her third album, she plans to release a gospel album.[21] She performed with her mother, Diane Barrino, in a Thanksgiving special on BET's Bobby Jones Gospel. Fantasia also appeared on Jennifer Hudson's self-titled album, on the song "I'm His Only Woman", which was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award, though it did not win.
Fantasia reprised the role of Celie in the national tour of The Color Purple during its Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles stops.[22]
Fantasia also stars in a reality show produced by World of Wonder. Titled Fantasia for Real, it premiered on January 11, 2010, on VH1 to rave reviews and ratings.[23] The show's first season ended in July 2010 with its second began on September 19, 2010.
On February 2, 2010, "Even Angels", produced by The Stereotypes and written by Heather Bright, was never released to radio from Fantasia's third studio album. She performed the song on The Oprah Winfrey Show on February 3, 2010.[24] The album's first official single, "Bittersweet", was released on May 11, 2010 and has gone on to reach number seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as well as number seventy-four on the Billboard Hot 100.[25]
Fantasia's third studio album, Back to Me, was released on August 24, 2010.[26] Fantasia cited Tina Turner, Queen and Aretha Franklin as influences, and like musicians she admired from their era, she recorded with a live band.[27] The album has been promoted by appearances on Good Morning America and The Wendy Williams Show among others. On March 28, 2010, Barrino also performed "America the Beautiful" at WWE WrestleMania XXVI. To promote the album, Barrino embarked on her first solo concert tour, Back to Me Tour in the fall of 2010.[28]
Barrino appeared on Charlie Wilson's album Just Charlie, on "I Want to Be Your Man."
In the summer of 2010, she appeared as a guest judge alongside Wayne Brady, on episode 11, of RuPaul's Drag Race.
[edit] 2011-present: Grammy Award and film
On February 13, 2011, Fantasia won her first Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Bittersweet".
In 2011, Barrino was cast in her first film role, playing gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in a biopic based on the 1993 book Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel.[29] It was later reported that the film was fully endorsed by the Mahalia Jackson estate. Fantasia also would receive not only the top salary in the project but a percentage of the box office revenue the film creates. Production was originally planned to begin on October 2011 in New Orleans and Chicago with a release date of late 2012 and a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.[30] It was however reported later that Fantasia may have lost the film role after she announced her pregnancy in August 2011, with members of Mahalia Jackson’s estate reportedly being unhappy that Barrino got pregnant by a married man, and producers were mad that she did not disclose her pregnancy. It was also reported that scheduling conflicts had arisen due to Barrino’s pregnancy, which may force the director to drop from the project.[31] Double Dutch Productions LLC, the production company behind Mahalia!, released a statement, which read it "extends apologies to Fantasia Barrino for the inaccurate, non-factual and disparaging statements of Ms. Barrino’s reputation, character and image."[32]
During an interview with CNN, Aretha Franklin has expressed interests in casting Barrino to play her in an upcoming biopic.[33]
On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Barrino (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release her future material on the RCA Records brand.[34][35]
On February 13, 2012 VH1 named Barino 32nd out of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.[36]
[edit] Personal life
In September 2005, Barrino published a memoir, dictated to a freelance writer, titled Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The book became a New York Times best-seller, reaching number seven on the list.[citation needed] In it, she revealed she is functionally illiterate and was unable to read the text of contracts she signed or to read to her then four-year-old daughter.[37] In 2006, following the release of her autobiography, Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, Barrino's father sued her for $10 million after she said unflattering things about him in the book that he claimed were false.[38]
On December 9, 2008, Barrino's 6,600-square-foot (610 m2), lakefront home in Charlotte's Glynmoor Lakes at Piper Glen community was in foreclosure and would be up for auction. Her 4,500-square-foot (420 m2) home, also in Piper Glen, is unaffected.[39][40] The home was due to be auctioned in January 2009 by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office after the company Broward Energy Partners, which had paid over $68,000 of her taxes in 2006, said it had not been fully repaid. The auction earnings were to be used to finish reimbursing the company for the loan,[41] on which Barrino had only paid back $10,000.[42] The auction was canceled after Barrino's attorneys and the lender reach an "eleventh-hour deal", the details of which were not disclosed.[42]
Her uncles, The Barrino Brothers, were a 1970s R&B band and her brother is Grand Hustle recording artist Ricco Barrino.
An August 2010 divorce filing in Mecklenburg County District Court alleges that Barrino has had a year-long relationship with Antwaun Cook, who was married.[43] Barrino claimed the two began dating after Cook and his wife separated.[44]
On August 9, 2010, Barrino was hospitalized in Pineville, North Carolina,[45] due to overdosing on aspirin and an unknown sleep aid. Dickens said, "'Her injuries are not life threatening … she was dehydrated and exhausted at the time."[46] The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department classified the incident as a suicide attempt.[46] In transcript segments released the day before an August 24, 2010, interview on the VH1 series Behind the Music, Barrino confirmed the incident was a suicide attempt, saying, "I didn't care about anything. I just wanted out. At that moment I wanted out. I wanted it to be over with...."[47] Barrino denied rumors that the incident was a publicity stunt.[44]
Afterward, Barrino said, "Music saved me. When I went in the hospital, I went into the computer room, and I looked up artists who've been through things, artists who sing from their soul. I took my cues from them, and I just put my mind and everything into music."[27] She also relied on her family, something she had not done earlier in her career.[27] Barrino testified in court that she aborted her and Cook's fetus around the time of her failed suicide attempt.[48]
In late August 2010, the ex-wife of Antwuan Cook, Paula Cook, accused Barrino of knowingly pursuing a relationship with her husband despite knowledge of their existing marriage. In December 2010, a North Carolina judge ruled in Barrino's favor stating the Cooks' separation date was September 14, 2009, and not June 2010 as Paula previously claimed. No information was given yet as to how the decision of the court will affect Paula's original plan to sue Fantasia under North Carolina's Alienation of affections Law which allows the abandoned spouse to file a suit against the individual(s) responsible for the failure of the marriage.[49]
On August 1, 2011, Barrino announced a second pregnancy during a charity concert event in Jacksonville, Florida. She did not reveal the name of the father.[50] On September 13, 2011 it was confirmed that the singer would be having a boy. On December 13, 2011 she gave birth to a son, Dallas Xavier Barrino by Antwaun Cook.[51]
