Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30, 1984), commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B/soul singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the television series American Idol in 2004. She has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. After playing the part of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, she is cast to be in the film adaptation of the musical.

In 2004, she released her debut single, I Believe, which debuted at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100, making Barrino the first recording artist in history to debut at the number one spot with a debut single. Subsequently, she released her debut album, Free Yourself, which went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA and garnered Barrino four Grammy nominations in 2006. In 2006, she released her sophomore album, Fantasia, which featured the number-one R&B hit When I See U. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA and received three Grammy nominations in 2008. She then played the part of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple. Her third studio album is set to be released in early 2010.

Personal life

Fantasia Barrino was born and raised in High Point, North Carolina, to Joseph and Diane Barrino. In her autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, Fantasia, who is of African-American descent,www.netglimse.com/celebs/pages/fantasia_barrino/index.shtml explains that a family rumor suggests her father was of Cuban descent, but there are no sources to verify that claim.http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=1171519&page=1 ABCnews.go.com Retrieved on 05-08-07 Fantasia is the first cousin of K-Ci & JoJo of the group Jodeci. She is also the cousin to R&B singer Dave Hollister and neo soul singer Calvin Richardson.