Fantasia Barrino on TIME's 100 Most Influential People (2024)

[JamesG]

by Taraji P. Henson
Oscar-Nominated Actress


There was just something about Fantasia Barrino when I first saw her on American Idol. It was her spirit, her soul. She left it all on that stage when she sang. I thought, Who is this girl? I voted for her again and again.

When I met her years later, I learned that she’s a Cancer—sweet and sensitive but with a quiet strength. You can feel it in her presence, and you can hear it in her powerful voice. When she sings, she transcends. It’s like she goes somewhere else and you just have to go with her.

Fantasia is a living testimony that we’re all going to go through storms. But at the end of a storm, what happens? The sun comes out. Whatever comes next for her will be so beautiful. She deserves everything. I see such big things for Fantasia—the sky’s the limit. Well, beyond the sky for her. It’s her time.

https://time.com/6964721/fantasia-barrino/