Fantasia Barrino was born on June 30, 1984 in High Point, California. Her family was musically-inclined, and when Fantasia was younger, they would go around North and South Carolina performing. She was heavily influenced by many artists like Shirley Caesar, The Clark Sisters, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan. Fantasia had to leave high school after becoming involved with an abusive boy. When she was 16, Fantasia found herself with child, and nine months later, gave birth to a healthy baby son. Before Fantasia joined season 3 of American Idol, she had no formal training in music, and claimed that the talent she has displayed since she was 5 years old is all from God. For Fantasia, the winner of American Idol is someone who can be considered a role model.

When Fantasia auditioned for season 3 of American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia, she was able to gain the judges' approval with her enormous talent and confident attitude. Her rendition of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" during the audition was enough to secure her a large fan base. Her most memorable performance during the Finals was her version of Porgy and Bess' "Summertime," and when she sang it for the second time during the eleventh and final week, the voters went crazy for her. The following day, she was crowned the third winner of American Idol, getting 1.5 million votes more than the other Top 2 Finalist, Diana DeGarmo.

After winning season 3 of American Idol, Fantasia went on to release her debut single under RCA records. The single contained the song "I Believe," which was co-written by season 1 American Idol finalist Tamyra Gray. The single came out at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 11 weeks topping the sales chart. In 2004, she came out with her first album, Free Yourself, and it entered the Billboard 200 pop album chart at #8. Two singles from the album, namely "Truth is" and "Free Yourself," were certified hits, and entered the Billboard R&B/ Hip-Hop tracks chart at #2 and #3 respectively. In 2006, she received 4 Grammy award nominations and later that year came out with her second self-titled album. She also played herself in the made-for-tv Lifetime movie Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story.

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