Anastacia

In The Blood

Anastacia Newkirk was born in Chicago on the 17th of September 1973. During her early childhood, the family moved to New York, where she was raised. Artistic creativity ran in the family with an actress for a mother and singer for a father. Although the singer's intentions for the future were not initially to be a singer, she could not deny her artistic side. She began to write poetry and later began frequenting a certain dance club in New York by the name of 1018. This brought out more of her artistic side as she loved to dance.

Anastacia- Dancing Queen

1018 would be the point where her destiny would come into play, as a producer at the club, impressed by her unique dancing style and abilities, asked if she could sing too. She could, of course, and very well at that, which led to her first proper recording of the song ‘One More Chance’, written by herself. She didn’t sign with the producer, though, continuing to dance and sing at different venues.

Hitting It Big

She was noticed again when she was 25, and this time it was with eyes wide open. She took part in a ‘Pop Idol’ style talent show hosted by MTV where she made it to the last 10 out of 160 participants. Although she did not win, many record labels were scrambling to sign her on with them. She finally chose Daylight Records, under Epic, and, shortly afterwards, released her debut album ‘Not That Kind’. This was a massive hit throughout Europe. People related to her upfront, personal lyrics and loved her soulful, Tina Turner-ish style voice. Two years later, in 2002, Anastacia topped the success of her first album with the release of ‘Freak Of Nature’, which boosted her total worldwide sales to over 20 million!

Strength Of A Woman

When it seemed she was on a roll, Anastacia took a blow that would have truly knocked the wind out of any ordinary woman. In 2003, she publicly announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Devastated fans wondered if this was the end of her short-lived career, but she insisted that she would fight and continue to follow her chosen musical path. She began receiving treatment in February of the same year, writing furiously through her experience. When she finally emerged in September, she threw herself straight back into work, against the advice of the doctors. Despite being extremely tired and drained from the treatment, she managed to record an album that expressed her emotions and experiences throughout the darkness of those days. ‘Anastacia’ was the resulting album, finally released in 2004, which generated an awesome response, selling over 1 million copies in the UK alone. Anastacia followed this shortly after (Nov. 2005) with the release of ‘Pieces Of A Dream’, a greatest hits compilation with a few new songs to boot. This proved to be just as successful as her previous releases.

Admirable Anastacia

It seems the singer has won a firm place in the hearts of her fans. Her music is influenced by issues that are meaningful to her and the fans can relate to this. One can only stare on in awe as this incredibly strong woman goes from one success to the next, despite whatever life throws at her.

Related Music Links

• Ashlee Simpson
• Jessica Simpson
• Kelly Clarkson
• Madonna
• Shakira