Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30, 1984),[1] known professionally by her mononym Fantasia, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and author. She rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe," which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, she released her debut album, Free Yourself, which went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA and earned Barrino three Grammy nominations in 2006.

In 2006, she released her second album, Fantasia, which featured the single "When I See U" which topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for eight weeks. This 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, for which she won a 2007 Theatre World Award. Her third studio album, Back to Me, was released worldwide on August 24, 2010 and features the single "Bittersweet," which peaked in the top ten on the R&B chart. The single won her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. As of February 2012, Barrino has sold 2,842,000 albums and 1,425,000 tracks in the United States.[2] In 2012, VH1 ranked her number 32 out of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.

On April 18, 2013, Barrino returned to American Idol singing "Lose to Win." The performance dubbed "dynamic, passionate and powerful"[by whom?] won her fervent expressions of approval from the show's current judges and a received wild ovation from the live audience. Moreover, she has received rave reviews in the media for the performance.[3][4] In November 2013, Barrino returned to Broadway in the musical After Midnight.[5] On October 16, 2014, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

Barrino has been nicknamed "Baby Patti LaBelle" by her idol Patti LaBelle

Barrino 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[14]—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,[15] and "Truth Is" spent 14 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, Barrino made many television appearances to promote her album. She played Aretha Franklin in an episode of the series American Dreams, s