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Life and Career
Anastacia Newkirk was
born on September 17, 1973 in New York City. She was raised in Chicago
by her mother until the age of 14 when her parents divorced and she
moved back to the west side of Manhattan with her mother. Anastacia says
she comes from a very artistic family. Anastacia’s mother is an
actress who worked in Broadway musicals. Anastacia’s father was a
singer on the Catskills Hotel and East coast nightclub circuits.
Anastacia says she never
thought about being a singer her whole life. Anastacia graduated from
the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan where she says that
she was the only child not working in the entertainment industry
already.
Anastacia, and her older sister, became a regular at club 1018, a dance
club in Manhattan. This is where she got her start. The club owner
noticed her dancing and asked her if she could sing also. The club owner
got Anastacia a manager. She appeared on the short-lived MTV television
show The Cut .
She won many times but at
the end, did not win and was just a finalist. Ironically, her and fellow
non-winner T-bone, who is a Christian rapper, were the most successful
people from the show.
The finalist position on The Cut brought attention from many major
record labels and many well-known musicians such as Michael Jackson. She
became an acquaintance of Michael Jackson and he helped her into the
business. Michael Jackson’s help got Anastacia a record deal. In July
of 1999,Anastacia signed with Epic/Daylight records.
Her first album, Not That Kind, was released in June of 2000. It became
a massive success around the globe. The first single from the album was
I’m outta love, which became the biggest selling single in Europe in
the year 2000. Not that kind sold over 5 million albums worldwide .
Anastacia became a
household name in Europe, Asia, and Australia. However, Anastacia was
much more successful abroad than in her homeland of the United States,
where Not That Kind sold only just under 200,000 copies. Anastacia
remains virtually unknown in the United States.
Anastacia’s follow-up to Not That Kind was released in January of
2002. It was titled “Freak of Nature”. Freak of Nature was a also a
mega success which sold over 5 million copies worldwide. It produced the
number 1 hits “Paid My dues”, which remained number 1 in Germany for
14 weeks, “One Day in Your Life”, the title track ,“Freak of
Nature”, “Why’d You Lie to Me”, and “You’ll Never be
Alone”. It has been certified multi-platinum in over 25 countries
worldwide.
Anastacia says she called
the album “Freak of Nature” because all of her favorite artists have
always been “freaks”, or non-conformists . Also, Anastacia has an
extremely soulful voice which is rare to find in a white woman. Many
first-time listeners are shocked when they find out the voice they hear
is coming from Anastacia, who is 5’ 2”, Blonde haired, and a white
American woman in her late twenties. 
In January of 2003, Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer. From the
beginning, she promised herself that the cancer wouldn’t stop her
career. She went through with that promise by recording a song titled
“Love is not a Crime” for the “Chicago” soundtrack. Anastacia
was suffering from insomnia and was extremely ill from the cancer and
radiation treatments. She had surgery to remove the cancer form her
breast in March of 2003.
In September of 2003, Anastacia entered the recording studio with TLC
producer Glen Ballard to write and record her third album, which was
self-titled Anastacia. This album tells of her struggles with cancer and
life in general, but it also has many ’happy’ tracks such as “Sexy
Single” and “Seasons Change”. “Heavy on my Heart” is a song
about Anastacia’s cancer and what she felt like during the time she
had it. She stole the show at the 2004 Echo Awards in Germany when she
performed it.
The first single from Anastacia is Left Outside Alone. It was released
to radio outside North America on March 15, 2004. Anastacia was released
outside North America on March 29, 2004. It has been number one in sales
in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Beligum, France, Australia, and New
Zealand since it was realeased in March. “Left Outside Alone” was
number one on the billboard charts for 5 weeks and is currently still in
the top 10. Anastacia will be released in the US on June 8th, 2004.
Anastacia is currently promoting her new album and will be touring this
summer in Europe and Australia. Anastacia calls herself ‘bi-coastal’
and has a home in New York and Los Angeles.
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