Fantasia Barrino is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress, and author. She came into prominence after winning the American Idol title in the reality TV series’ third season in 2004.
Fantasia was born on 30 June 1984 in High Point, North Carolina, USA, to parents Diane and Joseph Barrino. She began singing at the age of five and has come a long way in attaining a spot for herself in the music industry.
Fantasia Barrino Welcomes Her First Child With Her Husband, Kendall Taylor
A star of the series American Idol took the opportunity on the series finale for the 19th season to celebrate a new beginning.
American Idol 3rd season winner Fantasia and her husband Kendall Taylor announced the birth of their first child together, daughter Keziah Taylor. The singer took to her Instagram along with a photo of herself while pregnant, standing in front of an elephant, explaining its significance.
“The elephant is the animal I chose to surround @keziahlondontaylor with because it represents patience, strength, power, and remembrance,” Barrino wrote on 23 May 2021. “Just a few of the qualities that her presence has brought into our lives and their world.” She further went on to exclaim her happiness on giving birth to a new life and also added, “Happy Birthday to our little Angel 5-23-21 and may God keep and cover for the rest of our days!”
Taylor also celebrated the occasion by posting a maternity photo of Barrino on the same day, writing, “Today I experienced something that rewrote my personal definition of a Black Woman. To observe my Queen @tasiasword bring my little Angel @keziahlondontaylor into this world elevated my understanding and sense of pride, respect, and admiration for black women.”
Barrino announced her pregnancy in late November of 2020 while speaking about her fertility issue during an Instagram Live session with her husband. “Keep trying and you will conceive,” she said at the time before standing up to reveal her baby bump. Taylor then kissed his wife on her belly, saying, “Listen to me, a little Taylor baby on the way in these streets.”
Fantasia also opened about her fertility journey, urging her fans to trust God after facing problems conceiving. “Just keep waiting on God,” she instructed before Taylor revealed that doctors told them they would need in-vitro fertilization to have a child, but he recalled telling them to trust God. “I remember sitting in that doctor’s office and I was like, ‘I hear what y’all saying, but I know what God showed me,’” Kendall explained.
In celebration of the birth of this child, Fantasia recently shared a video from her baby shower as she explained what this child meant to her before she was even born. “This baby has brought so much purpose to our marriage and to our family. I want to thank everybody for joining along and sharing this time with us,” she said in the video.
Keziah joins Fantasia's two children – daughter, Zion Quari, and son, Dallas Xavier - whom she had from previous relationships, and Kendall’s son, Treyshaun.
Fantasia Barrino Married Life With Husband Kendall Taylor
Fantasia Barrino got married to Kendall Taylor in July 2015 after just three weeks of knowing each other.
The pair didn’t settle for just one but two weddings. They initially tied the knot in July 2015 on a yacht, taking to her Instagram page, which is deleted now, a few days later to share the wonderful moment she had in her life. One of the pictures showed Barrino wearing a big adorable smile while being hugged by her husband just moments after they said, “I do.”
Barrino wrote with the snapshot, which shows them posing in front of a lake or ocean.
“Those who really know me know that I LOVE Water.. Can you see it? How Happy I am.. This Man.. God made him just for Me and me Just For Him.. This Man.. Covers and prays for me and my children EVERY morning.. This Man Loves My Father in Heaven and his name is God.. This Man allows me to just be a woman.. No mire Hurt because King Kendall will never let that happen.. I’m off to just kiss, Hug and play in some water with This Man.. Look at Him in the pic YEP!! HE COVERS ME.. Be Happy with me you guys cause I’ve been thru SOOOOO much. Some stuff was my wrong decisions but all I ever really wanted was this.. Real Love. This Man and this smile is real.”
Barrino also shared pictures of her ceremony and posted a photo of their four-tier wedding cake. Lastly, she shared two wedding snaps that show her donning the all-black dress with white jewels on the bust and black feathers on the skirts.
The following year, the two tied the knot again with a stunning ceremony on Christmas Day. Barrino shared several photos from their second big day on Instagram, one in which she donned a white dress as she posed with a sweet smile next to her husband, Kendall.
Fantasia Barrino with her husband, Kendall Taylor, on their second wedding (©: Instagram/Fantasia Barrino)
Fantasia also shared on The Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM in 2019 that she was impressed with the bold act of Kendall to sign a prenuptial before marrying her. She also spoke about choosing a traditional approach, celibacy before marriage, in the show.
Barrino shared on Angela Yee’s Lip Service in October 2019, as she admitted she’s “a hopeless romantic.” “When I first met my husband, this was the keeper. We became friends first, and we got married very, very fast… We got married in three weeks!” she also revealed how her husband kneeled down and asked permission to cover her and prayed.
Furthermore, their relationship was also started in an instant. On Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, she opened up about the night they got serious during a date on a “rooftop spot,” recalling, “Never did he ever try to come onto me… It was just great conversation. I knew he was my dude. He was my boyfriend that night.”
Long before she met her new husband, Fantasia married herself to make a commitment to herself. However, this act was not on a whim to be ridiculed or anything after her series of successes winning American Idol in 2004 and gaining stable fame and wealth for herself, only to be followed by the lowest of lows with depression and financial hardships.
She recalled her decisions – both professional and personal – that took a heavy toll on her. The situation became worse in the spring of 2010 after her divorce trial of her then-husband, Antwaun Cook, with allegations and accusations of home-wrecking, pregnancy, and sex tapes.
She was humiliated by the public after the ordeal was known to most of the people. And it bore a heavy incident on 9 August 2010, when Fantasia attempted suicide by downing a bottle of aspirin. “I was a broken woman,” she told Billboard magazine.
But she still stayed determined with an affirmative comment to herself while looking in the mirror to stay strong along with her faith and a copy of the self-help bible The Power of Now, which kept her grounded today, saying, “put me in a place where I know what I do and don’t want, musically. If I can’t do what I feel, then I quit.” However, her life became brighter after starting a family with her now-husband Kendall Taylor.
“Everything changed when I met him,” she says. The couple was also linked very instantly from meeting at a local club, having a date night, and tying the knot just three weeks later of their first meet.
During her 2019 Breakfast Club interview, Fantasia made some polarizing remarks about why she thought “submission” was key to marriage. She declared that “the king needs his queen.” As the interview caused some controversy to be a false belief.
The singer with her husband attempted to clarify their beliefs in an Instagram video in September 2019. Taylor commented, “Submission is supposed to be a beautiful song and dance between two lovers. What’s happened is men have abused that power. Firgive me, they’ve abused that gift…”
Net Worth And Career Of Fantasia Barrino
Despite facing financial struggles and a hard past in her life, Fantasia Barrino has accumulated a fair amount of wealth for herself through her professional career. She has an estimated net worth of $700 thousand as of 2021. Her earning comes from a long history of her career. Being a popular artist after her triumph in the American Idol in 2004, she earned largely after releasing several albums, which sold to millions of copies over the world.
An interview with Oprah magazine in September 2007 notes that Barrino dropped out of school at 14 and got pregnant at 17, then was alienated by most people she knew. In 2001, at the age of 19, she borrowed $50 for gas money and then drove to Atlanta for the audition for the third season of the American Idol competition reality show.
With a series of stunning performances, she won week after week. Finally, she emerged as the victorious and the youngest one to win the American Idol until 23 May 2007, when Jordin Sparks won the title at age 17.
After winning American Idol, Fantasia signed with J Records and began work on her debut album. In June 2004, she released her debut single, I Believe, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard songs chart for 11 consecutive weeks. She was the first artist in history to achieve this feat with a debut single.
In November 2004, she released her debut album, Free Yourself that sold more than a million copies in the USA and another million copies worldwide. In contrast, her self-titled second album did only half as well upon its release in 2006. On 30 September 2005, Fantasia emerged as an author, releasing her autobiography titled Life Is Not a Fairy Tale.
In 2014, Barrino was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. In 2016, she released the single No Time for It. She also toured with Anthony Hamilton beginning on 21 April 2016.
Later in July 2016, she released her album, The Definition Of…, which sold 32,000 albums and made it to the top of week’s Billboard R&B Albums Chart. Then she went on to release albums like Side Effects of You (2013), Christmas After Midnight (2017), and Sketchbook (2019).
She also achieved a lifelong goal when she appeared as Celie in The Color Purple musical on Broadway. Barrino has starred in movies and TV shows, including American Dreams, Soul Kittens Cabaret, and more.
The singer has come a long way of struggles in her past. From being in a love triangle with her previous husband Cook and his wife to later ending the romance for good and intentionally overdosing on aspirin which disrupted her career, followed by other financial issues. She also went on to bid farewell with RCA Records after having a conflict with them. And despite all of the ups and downs she’s faced in her life, Barrino says that music is the only thing that has kept her going.