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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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