'American Idol' champ Fantasia adds 'Ohio college student' to her list of achievements
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One of Central State University's newest students has been in the living rooms of millions of households across the country.
Fantasia Barrino-Taylor, the third-season winner of "American Idol," announced in February that she planned to take a break from her career to return to school, and in an Instagram post earlier this week, exclaimed, "PSA: I AM OFFICIALLY ENROLLED AS A STUDENT @centralstate87!!!"
Debbie Alberico, interim director of public relations at Central State, confirmed on Wednesday that the 38-year-old singer — more commonly known by the mononym Fantasia — was enrolled at the historically Black college in Wilberforce and would be taking classes online.
In addition, Barrino-Taylor is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho. A social media post showed the sorority sisters welcoming her into their ranks last November during their centennial celebration in Indiana.
Barrino-Taylor, who dropped out of high school as a teen and later earned her GED, comes from a musical family that includes award-winning R&B duo K-Ci and JoJo as first cousins and uncles Nathaniel, Perry and Julius Barrino, who formed three-quarters of the late-'60s soul group The Barrino Brothers.
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As a competitor on "American Idol" in 2004, Barrino-Taylor quickly became a favorite, with notoriously tough judge Simon Cowell praising her as the best contestant to ever vie in any of the show's competitions. She defeated runner-up Diana DeGarmo to become the contest's youngest winner at age 19. (That title has since been claimed by Jordin Sparks, who won at 17 in 2007.)
Barrino-Taylor's "American Idol" coronation song, "I Believe," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other hits include "Truth Is," "Baby Mama," "Bittersweet" and "When I See U," her second-most successful single to date. She has released seven studio albums and appeared on Broadway in "The Color Purple" and "After Midnight."
The soulful-voiced vocalist's autobiography, "Life is Not a Fairytale," chronicling her early life, teen motherhood and rise to fame, was a New York Times bestseller. A film adaptation of the book, starring Barrino-Taylor as herself, premiered on Lifetime in 2006, drawing more than 19 million viewers — Lifetime's second-most watched movie in its then-22-year history,
A musical film adaptation of "The Color Purple" featuring Barrino-Taylor in a reprise of her Broadway role of Celie, is schedule to be released in December.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: American Idol singer Fantasia to attend Central State University
