Fantasia

At the age of 19, Fantasia Barrino won the third series of American Idol, and became the first ever artist to top the US Hot 100 chart with a debut single. "I Believe" stayed at the top for 11 weeks, firmly establishing Fantasia as a new force in pop music.

Fantasia grew up singing gospel music, inspired by soul singers like Aretha Franklin, but she endured a troubled teenage life and fell pregnant at the age of 17. Just two years later she wowed national television audiences with passionate performances of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary", and the Gershwin standard "Summertime". On May 26th 2004, Fantasia beat fellow finalist Diana DeGarmo by over a million votes from a total vote of over 65 million, to become the youngest ever winner of America Idol.

"I Believe" was released a month later, and it shot straight to the top of the charts, eventually becoming the biggest-selling single of 2004. Her debut album, Free Yourself, hit No.8 on the album chart, and has now sold around two million copies. Meanwhile "Truth Is" and "Free Yourself" performed well on the Hot R&B chart.

Through 2005, Fantasia promoted her new album on TV shows, toured as a headliner and as support for Kanye West, and released the autobiography Life Is Not A Fairy Tale. Her debut album earned four Grammy nominations, and she then played herself in a Made-for-TV biopic based on her book.

Fantasia released her second album, Fantasia, in 2006. Despite receiving better reviews than Free Yourself, it performed slightly less well in the stores, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard album chart. In 2007 Fantasia took on her first theatrical role, playing Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple.