Table of Biography
Fantasia Barrino is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Fantasia Barrino gained popularity from her performance of the Porgy and Bess standard “Summertime” during the third season of American Idol in 2004. Moreover, she is the winner of the third season of American Idol due to her performance.
Early Life
Fantasia Barrino was born in High Point, North Carolina, US on June 30, 1984. Her real birth name is Fantasia Monique Barrino given by her parents. According to the astrological charts, he has a zodiac sign of Cancer and is currently 39 years old. Additionally, she belongs to African-American ethnicity.
Her father’s name is Joseph Barrino and her mother’s name is Diane Barrino and she grew up in High Point, North Carolina. Her uncles Nathaniel, Perry, and Julius Barrino were members of a 1970s R&B band The Barrino Brothers.
Additionally, she grew up with her three brothers; Ricco Barrino, Xavier Barrino, and Joseph Barrino. Meanwhile, her brother Ricco is also an R&B singer and songwriter.
Moreover, she has two cousins named Cedric “K-Ci” Hailey and Joel “JoJo” Hailey who are also R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo. Due to her family background, she started singing at the young age of five.
Fantasia Barrino – Education
Barrino studied at Andrews High School in High Point, North Carolina despite the travels. However, she was raped by one of her classmates and she feel embarrassed and harassed after this incident. We can assume that she dropped out of high school after this incident but there is no confirmation from her.
Professional Career
American Idol
Fantasia Barrino started singing at the young age of five due to her family’s involvement in the R&B music industry. In 2004, she entered an American reality show titled American Idol season third.
During the show, she performed the Porgy and Bess standard “Summertime” and earned praise from the judges of the show. Moreover, her performance became AOL’s greatest television moment in the 2004 list.
Caption: Fantasia Barrino’s American Idol audition (Source: American Idol Wiki – Fandom)
She performed a second performance of “Summertime” in the final and judges praised her performance. Moreover, the show judge Simon Cowell remarked she was the best contestant to ever compete in any competition.
On May 23, 2007, she became the youngest American Idol at that time at the age of 19 defeating runner-up Diana DeGarmo by 1.3 million votes. After that, she participated in the US tour with other American finalists.
Debut
In 2004, she also appeared in a Christmas special episode of Kelly, Ruben, and Fantasia: Home for the Holidays. She signed with J Records after winning American Idol and started to work on her debut album.
Her debut single “I Believe” released in June 2004 debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to this, she became the first artist in history to achieve number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 with a first single.
Caption: Fantasia Barrino performing in the concert (Source: FOX Carolina)
Moreover, her single “I Believe” remained at number one for eleven consecutive weeks. In this year, her CD single “I Believe” became the top-selling single in the United States and certified double platinum by the CRIA.
Due to this massive success, she won three Billboard Music Awards that year. In November 2004, she released her debut studio album Free Yourself which debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200.
Television Appearances
She made various television appearances to promote her album through the spring and winter of 2005. Additionally, she appeared as Aretha Franklin and sang “Respect” in an episode of the series named American Dreams.
She also guest voiced on The Simpsons episode “A Star Is Torn” and also made a cameo on the sitcom titled All of Us. After that, she appeared as a musical guest with Jay Leno on the show called The Tonight Show.
She also performed at the thirty-sixth NAACP Image Awards in honor of Illinois Senator Barack Obama on March 25, 2005. She went with her live band with soul singers Kem and Rashaan Patterson on her first tour in May 2005. In Jamaica, she also headline several music festivals like the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival and the Reggae Sumfest.
Due to the success of her debut album, she was nominated for three Grammy Awards in 2006. In 2006, she appeared as herself in her autobiographical movie “The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairy Tale” directed by Debbie Allen. She released her second album titled “Fantasia” in December 2006 and certified as gold.
In 2007, she won ‘Theatre World Award’ for her performance in the musical ‘The Color Purple’. After that, she released her third studio album titled “Back to Me” in August 2010 which was a blend of her earlier performance on American Idol and Broadway.
Other Works
Later, she won the Grammy for the ‘Best Female R&B Vocal Performer’ for her single ‘Bittersweet’ in 2011. She appeared as Mahalia Jackson in the biopic based on the book ‘Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel’.
In 2012, she ranked at number 32 on the “100 Greatest Women in Music” list of ‘VH1’. In that same year, she appeared in a cover version of ‘True Colors’ originally sung by Cyndi Lauper.
Later that year, she recorded and co-wrote the superhit song titled ‘In the Middle of the Night’. In November 2013, she appeared in the musical ‘After Midnight’ which generated positive reviews from critics.
Later, she was honored with the ‘North Carolina Music Hall of Fame’ in October 2014. In October 2017, she released her Christmas album titled ‘Christmas After Midnight’ under Concord Records.
Fantasia Barrino – Net Worth 2024
Throughout her professional career as an R&B singer, she has earned a decent sum of money and lives a comfortable lifestyle. As of 2024, her net worth is estimated at around $1 million while her annual salary is unknown. The majority of her earnings come from her singing, songwriting, and acting.
Relationship Status
On the 18th of July 2015, Fantasia Barrino married businessman Kendall Taylor. The couple started dating each other in July 2014. She announced in November 2020 that the couple was expecting their first child together. In May 2021, they welcomed a baby girl named Keziah. Previously, she dated several guys in past before marrying Taylor.
Caption: Fantasia Barrino with her kids (Source: BCK Online)
Barrino dated Brandel Shouse when she was just 14 years old. Two years later, she gave birth to a daughter named Zion Quari Barrino. The pair eventually parted ways in 2003. In addition, she dated Michael Clayton (2004-2005), Jamie Foxx (2006), and Young Dro (2007–2008). She has a son named Dallas Xavier Barrino as a result of her relationship with Antwaun Cook (2009-212).
Body Measurements
Caption: Fantasia Barrino posing for a photo (Source: Instagram)
This beautiful American R&B singer has dark brown eyes with black hair color. Additionally, she stands 5 feet 7 inches tall (170 cm) and weighs around 65 kg (143 lbs), and her other body measurements are under review.
Fantasia Barrino – Social Media
On her Instagram page ‘@tasiasword’ there are over 5.2 million. Likewise, there are over 964.4k followers on her Twitter page ‘@TasiasWord’ and there are over 7.4 million followers on her Facebook. She has a self-titled YouTube and there are over 1.2 million subscribers.