Anastacia biography
Anastacia (born Anastacia Lyn Newkirk; September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Australia, Asia, South Africa and South America, but has had only minor success in her native United States. Her debut album, Not That Kind, released in 2000, achieved multi-platinum sales in Australia, New Zealand and much of Europe, was critically acclaimed by Elton John and Michael Jackson, and had the 4th biggest European single and biggest Australian single of 2000. She was awarded 'Best-selling International Artist' in 2000. Her next two albums also earned multi-platinum sales throughout Europe and Oceania making her one of the fastest and biggest-selling artists of the new millennium.
Nicknamed "the little lady with the big voice", Anastacia is known for her powerful soul voice, and her small stature – . She was also known for her trademark glasses (often darkly tinted), but she had surgery to correct her vision permanently in August 2005. In 2005, she was recognized for worldwide sales of over 20 million records.
Early life
Anastacia was born in Chicago, Illinois; her late father Robert Newkirk (of German descent) was a club-singer and her mother Diane Hurley (of Irish descent) an actress on Broadway. After her father (a sufferer of bipolar disorder) left the Newkirk family, they moved to New York City when she was a teenager. Then she enrolled at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan.
Anastacia soon was diagnosed with Crohn's disease Despite her illness she soon became interested in dance. However she was frequently critiqued for being 'too large to make it in the music business'. Anastacia subsequently dieted, triggering a Crohn's relapse that caused her intestines to collapse which resulted in hospitalisation tube feeding and steroid treatments which caused hair loss, weight gain and swelling of the face.
Despite her ongoing health problems Anastacia continued to pursue her ambitions for the next decade. She first gained prominence on BET's Comic View, singing Oleta Adams' "Get Here" in 1992. Throughout the early 1990s, she appeared regularly on Club MTV and in videos for the hip hop group Salt-n-Pepa. However although producers were intrigued by her voice's unusual tone, Anastacia would be continuously told that 'her sound just didn't quite fit into any category'. Eventually in 1999 before turning 30, Anastacia attracted the interest of record labels after making the finals of the short lived MTV talent show The Cut. Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records, a custom label of Sony BMG's Epic Records in March 1999.
Music career
2000-2002: Not That Kind and Freak of Nature
Anastacia's debut album,
Not That Kind, was released in 2000. The album reached the top ten in eight countries in Europe and Asia. It went four times platinum in Europe and triple platinum in Australia; her debut single, "I'm Outta Love" topped the charts in Belgium, Australia and New Zealand, peaked at number two in France, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland as well as also reaching number six both in Germany and the UK. In the U.S., it was only a minor radio hit. The second single "Not That Kind" reached number 11 in the UK "Cowboys & Kisses" was released as the third single off the album, charting in the top forty in some European countries. As the last promotional only single, "Made for Lovin' You" charted in the UK at number twenty-seven and in France at number seventy-two. While "I'm Outta Love" was a top ten hit on the Hot Dance Club Play, "Not That Kind" did not chart high on the
Billboard Hot 100, however in spite of this by the end of the year Anastacia would go on to be the World's Best Selling New Female Pop Artist at the 2001 World Music Awards.
« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 next » Biography from 
, the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.