Anastacia

Anastacia was born as Anastacia Lyn Newkirk in Chicago, 17 September 1973 in a family of artists. Her father was a singer performing at night clubs, and her mother was a music theatre actress. Despite the discovery of Crohn’s disease, Anastacia went in for dancing. Along with her elder sister, she was a regular visitor of a New York dance club, where she was noticed by producers, first as a dancer. After she had been shot in a couple videos for other performers, Anastacia decided to write and sing her own songs. She caught the attention of recording companies after performing her song Not That Kind at The Cut competition for young talents. In 1998, Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records and released her first single, I'm Outta Love late in 1999 to run second in Billboard Dance Charts. Her debut album, Not That Kind was released in Europe in 2000 to stun the critics and listeners with the singer’s great range of voice. Anastacia managed to sell over 5 million copies of this album. The audience liked the mid tempo pop and R&B material with the Afro-American gospel-like vocals of the white girl. She created a well considered image of an intelligent and energetic woman to suit her perfectly.

Anastacia’s favorite singer Elton John appraised her talent and invited to participate in recording his live album One Night Only. She was trusted with performing the main theme for the FIFA World Cup 2002, Boom. Freak Of Nature was recorded for two months at the Sony studio and released in November 2002. In music terms, it revealed the singer’s evolution, but did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. It featured four singles, Paid My Dues, You'll Never Be Alone, One Day in Your Life, and Why'd You Lie to Me. In the same year, Anastacia took part in the charity concert Divas Live recorded on DVD, with Shakira, Cher, Celine Dion and other celebrities. She also recorded Love Is A Crime for the Chicago soundtrack. The singer intended to go on a large world tour when it was discovered she had breast cancer. Anastacia was immediately operated although it was hindered by her digestion troubles. She managed to heal completely and launched the Anastacia Fund, a fond to support cancer research.

Restored, Anastacia recorded the third album. It demonstrated drastic changes in Anastacia’s music with prominent guitars making it more emotional and profound. The album was named after her name and released in 2004. The first single, Left Outside Alone, showed the rightness of this new approach and entered the Top 20 of highest selling singles. The album itself was leading European Top 100 Album chart for seven weeks and then was making numerous comebacks to the top. The Live at Last tour, later renamed to Encore tour lasted for almost a year and spawned Anastacia’s first DVD. She also released a collection of her best songs under the tile Pieces of a Dream: Greatest Hits in 2005. Anastacia kept her fans waiting for four years to hear her new album, Heavy Rotation. Its first single, I Can Feel You, was released in August 2008, two months before the appearance of the album itself.