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Anastacia Newkirk (her real name) was born September 17, either 1974 or 1973 (the year is not confirmed yet) in New York City and was raised by her mother in Chicago following her parents' divorce. At age 14, she moved back to the West Side of Manhattan. "I come from a very artistic family," says the artist. "My father was a singer on the Catskills hotel and East Coast nightclub circuits. My mother is an actress who worked in musical theater and on Broadway. It wasn't as though I've wanted to be a singer all my life, but I grew up in an atmosphere of artistic expression and encouragement."
Anastacia graduated from the Professional Children's School in Manhattan where, she recalls, "I was just about the only student not working already." She dabbled in poetry; sang along with her mother's Barbra Streisand and Elton John records; and with her older sister, became a regular at the New York dance club 1018.
It was her first introduction to house music and "freestyle."
"At the time I didn't even know what it was," Anastacia admits, "but emotionally I felt very attached to this very rhythmic music. The way I sing today is the way I dance: very freestyle, just going wherever the music is taking me." She became a familiar figure on "Club MTV" and danced in several hit videos, including Salt-N-Pepa's "Everybody Get Up" and "Twist And Shout." One night, "this producer approached me in the club and asked me if I was a singer.
And from that point on, there were different producers involved in what I would call ‘trying to find my break.'"
Always, she worked to develop herself as an artist, not just as a demo singer or backing vocalist. But Anastacia's singular talent - that of a White woman singing in an essentially Black idiom, in a voice that had no color - defied easy classification and baffled even those well-meaning professionals who recognized her natural ability.
Fast facts:
Anastacia's birthday is September 17
She has blonde hair and brown eyes
Anastacia was a contestant on MTV's talent search show "The Cut." She won several times, and even made it to the finals (Top 10), but didn't win. The ironic twist is, she and fellow non-winner (Christian rapper) T-Bone are the most successful contestants from the show now.
The name "Anastacia" is Greek for "She who will rise again."
She also appeared on Magic Johnson's short-lived talk show "The Magic Hour" during one of his audience talent showcases.
Anastacia has a tattoo of an ankh (the Egyptian symbol of eternal life) surrounded by the sun on the small of her back.
She also seems to have a thing for butterflies. She wears them in her hair, and mentions them often in her lyrics.
One of Anastacia's main producers, Sam Watters, was a member of the R&B/Doo-wop quartet Color Me Badd.
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