Anastacia (born Anastacia Lyn Newkirk on September 17, 1973) is an American pop and rock singer and songwriter.

She has been highly successful in Europe, Oceania, Asia and South Africa but has not had as much success in her native United States. Despite the lack of American success, she has sold in excess of 30 million albums worldwide.

She is world renowned for her powerful, edgy, soulful voice and is a dramatic contralto, famous for her ability to hit high notes in her chest voice. Her small stature (160 cm or 5'3") has also led to her being nicknamed "the little lady with the big voice". She is also known for her trademark glasses (often darkly tinted), but she had surgery to correct her vision permanently in August 2005.

She made headlines when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. In 2007, she married her bodyguard of three years, Wayne Newton, in Mexico.

Anastacia was born in Chicago, Illinois into a showbiz family: her father Robert Newkirk was a club-singer and her mother Diane Hurley an actress in Broadway musical theatre. After her father left the Newkirk family, they moved to New York City when she was a teenager. Then she enrolled at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan.

Anastacia soon became interested in dance despite being diagnosed with Crohn's disease when she was thirteen years old. She first gained prominence stealing the show from D.L. Hughley while he was hosting BET's Comic View, singing Oleta Adams' "Get Here" in 1992. During the early 1990s, she appeared regularly on Club MTV and in a couple of videos for rappers Salt-N-Pepa. In 1999, she attracted the interest of record labels after making the finals of MTV talent show The Cut. Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records, a custom label of Sony BMG's Epic Records in March 1999. The Cut was hosted by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of R&B and hip-hop group TLC. A then-unknown Anastacia finished in second place, but impressed Lopes and the show's three judges so much that she scored herself a record deal anyway.

Her debut album Not That Kind was released in 2000. Anastacia wrote 75% of it and because of her voice the album leaned towards R&B and Soul. The album was a huge success, reaching the top ten in eight countries in Europe, Asia, and Oceania. It went quadruple platinum in Australia spurred by the success of her debut smash "I'm Outta Love" which was the most popular single of the year in that country for 2000."I'm Outta Love" topped the charts in Australia, peaked at #2 in France and also reached number 6 in both, the UK and Germany. In The US, it was only a minor radio hit. The second single "Not That Kind" reached number 11 in the UK and was a big hit all over Europe and the rest of the world. "Cowboys & Kisses" was released as the third single off the album, charting in the top 40 in some European countries. As the last single, the only promotional meant single "Made for Lovin' You" charted in the UK (27) and France (72).

While "I'm Outta Love" was a Top 10 song on the Hot Dance Club Play, "Not That Kind" did not chart high on the Billboard Hot 100, and she was poorly promoted in the U.S. due to her busy schedule outside North America.

Her second album, 2001's Freak of Nature achieved respectable sales although it did not match the level of international success of Not That Kind. The album title derives from a nickname her mother called her. The first single released was "Paid My Dues". The second single, "One Day in Your Life", reached number 11 in the UK and the top 10 in many European countries. The next single "Why'd You Lie to Me" reached the top 30 in the UK. "You'll Never Be Alone", the 4th single, reached #28 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S. When the album was finally released in the United States in May 2002, she dedicated the album to Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who had died in a car wreck the month before. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was partly responsible for Anastacia's success, since Lisa hosted MTV's The Cut where Anastacia got her first break. Soon after she released a double disc edition featuring two bonus hits, remixes for three of the tracks on the album and two live tracks taken from a Japan gig that was performed on the 13th September 2002.

Anastacia joined Shakira, Cher, Dixie Chicks and Celine Dion for VH1's Divas Live in 2002 and she also contributed the song "Love Is a Crime" to the Chicago soundtrack. The song peaked at #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and enjoyed moderate airplay on Rhythmic/Dance format. Anastacia was selected to sing the theme from 2002 FIFA World Cup: "Boom".

In January 2003, Anastacia decided to have her breasts reduced due to back strain. From a routine mammogram for the surgery she discovered she had breast cancer. She immediately successfully completed surgery and radiotherapy. Anastacia subsequently established a fund, the "Anastacia Fund", to promote awareness of breast cancer amongst younger women.

She has attributed her health scare to being an inspiration for the sound and content of her third album. According to an interview she made in 2005 on a British music station The Box, her voice lost its power and she became unable to record and thus she spent a long time writing and trying to create a sound she would be finally happy with. As she said on Rove (Australia) in 2004, she wanted to have more edge to her vocals as she felt there was something missing from her previous works. She brought in many rock instruments which brought a new atmosphere to her music. She also felt that she still needed the funkiness and the pop as the singer felt that too much edge would sound wrong with her voice. Out of this a new sound was formed. She describes her sound as "sprock" - a combination of soul, pop and rock. She named the album after herself.

Anastacia entered record studios in September 2003 to begin recording her next album, working with Glen Ballard, Dallas Austin, and Dave Stewart for release in 2004. On the album, Anastacia also collaborated with P.O.D. lead singer Sonny Sandoval on the socially-conscious track "I Do".

The first single, released in March, was "Left Outside Alone", which saw a change in direction for Anastacia. Anastacia proved to be a smash hit reaching the top of the album charts in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Greece, Germany, and Italy and number 2 in Portugal and Spain. "Left Outside Alone" proved to be equally successfully reaching number 1 in Australia, Spain, Italy, Austria and Switzerland; number 2 in the Netherlands + Germany, number 3 in the UK and reaching the top 5 on the composite European chart. Strong airplay throughout Europe gave the song a Top 40 Charts world airplay ranking as one of the top five songs played on top 40 radio stations throughout the world in April 2004. Unlike her first two albums, which were released in her homeland of America, Anastacia was not, despite being scheduled for release on three occasions. "Left Outside Alone" was released twice, but failed to pick up heavy airplay. It only gained sporadic Adult Contemporary and Hot AC format airplay. Again, it sparked Rhythmic/Dance format airplay and the dance mix of "Left Outside Alone" peaked at #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play. After the original version of "Left Outside Alone" failed to catch on because of lukewarm promotional pushes, especially on radio, the album was postponed and eventually cancelled after the release date of August 30, 2004 past. Anastacia released three further internationally successful singles; "Sick and Tired" (which gave her another #1 in Spain and another UK Top 5 single), "Welcome to My Truth" (her best-selling hit in Spain), and the ballad "Heavy on My Heart" proceeds from the sale of which went towards her 'Anastacia Fund' (a charitable organisation providing research funding for breast cancer).

A small batch of Anastacia the album was released with a bonus DVD, Anastacia poster and slip case. The DVD includes "Making Of Anastacia", "2002 Europe Promo Tour" and a photo gallery.

In late 2005, she released her first greatest hits collection, entitled Pieces of a Dream, named after a track of the same name. The album spawned the hit singles Pieces of a Dream and the duet with Eros Ramazzotti "I Belong to You", which was a huge hit in Europe, charting and peaking in the top ten in almost all the European countries. Even though Sony BMG did force her to release this collection, Anastacia says she is happy now that it was created as it was like a "story book", or summary of the last five years.

Not long after the release of "I Belong to You", Anastacia released her first live DVD Live at Last on March 27, 2006 in Europe. The DVD contains footage from concerts in Berlin and Munich, music videos to her latest four singles (Left Outside Alone [US version], Everything Burns [with Ben Moody], Pieces Of A Dream and I Belong to You, with Eros Ramazzotti), five alternative videos (I Do, Rearview, Seasons Change, Underground Army and Time) to songs from her selfnamed album, and a documentary about the coming together of the tour.

During her years of success, Anastacia has supported many charity events as Life Ball 2006 (Europe's largest annual AIDS charity event), Make a Difference and Challenge for the Children. Anastacia was one of the fifteen artists to record their take on a Disney song on the CD DisneyMania. Anastacia recorded "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It is also included on the Collector's Edition of her second album.

Before coming back to the music scene full time, Anastacia took part in the charity event, 46664, organised by Nelson Mandela to raise awareness of AIDS. She sang with U2 and Queen, and also contributed to the song "Amandla", recording the song and providing some of the lyrics.

Anastacia was romantically linked to several men throughout her career. She had a relationship with Shawn Woods for 6 years and the singer claims he was the love of her life. Rumors claim the pair split up because Anastacia found him in bed with another woman, which might explain the song "Why'd You Lie to Me" (in which Anastacia sings about a relationship that crashed because her boyfriend was cheating on her). She also dated Charles Ingram, and dated Patrice Bouédibéla for over a year before splitting up. She married her bodyguard Wayne Newton in Mexico on April 21, 2007. The wedding was in Huatulco, and was written and officiated by a shaman from California Jon Rasmussen.

Anastacia has a tattoo below her neck, saying "Forever" in an unusual font. She also has an Ankh on her lower back, which appeared on her first album. Since it represents "eternal life", it has come to symbolize her.

Anastacia by s. Oliver is a clothes collection released in fall 2006 by Anastacia and s. Oliver. She had said that she long wanted to release a clothing line: "I have had the idea of designing my own collection for a long time, but waited for the right partner. s. Oliver came along just at the right time. We got to know each other and found that we not only harmonize well together as a brand, but also have the same ideas about the look of 'Anastacia by s. Oliver'. There are many points that need to be considered when designing a collection: What trends are in, what colors, what fabrics, what styles ... That is why I am happy that my work with the s. Oliver design team is going so well and that we are implementing these themes together. For example, I think it is also very important that my clothes can be worn in different sizes." The collection reflects Anastacia’s personal style and her versatility. The look of the line is designed to be "sensual, feminine and sexy". A Limited Edition CD named "Welcome To My Style" is available for free to costumers who spend 60 euros or more on the clothes in November. The CD includes the following already released tracks: # Underdog (B-Side of "Cowboys & Kisses") # Get Ready (B-Side of "Left Outside Alone") # Boom (FIFA 2002 World Cup official song) # Funk Medley (B-Side of "Paid My Dues").

Anastacia will realize a new clothing line called "Limited Luxury", that it was designed together with the famous brand "Swarovski". This colthing will be on stores in November 2nd 2007.

Anastacia attended the memorial concert 'Concert For Diana' on 1 July 2007, which would have been Diana's 46th birthday if she had lived. This event was one of the first major events to take place in the new Wembley Stadium and one of the first major appearances since the singer took a break from the industry. She opened the medley section of the show and she sang a rendition of Superstar, from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, with a gospel chorus behind her.

The perfume of diva anastacia was launched in January and is called "resurrection".

In August 2007, a video was put on the Anastacia by s. oliver web site. During the video when Anastacia is asked about her future plans she confirms that she is working on a new album as well as the clothing line. A specific month of release or title is not mentioned.

*2000: Not That Kind *2001: Freak of Nature *2004: Anastacia *2005: Pieces of a Dream *2008: TBR: Anastacia - 2008 Album

*2002: One Day in Your Life *2002: The Video Collection *2006: Anastacia: Live at Last

The following singles reached number one. The table shows their peak position in Germany, Australia, Switzerland, UK, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Greece.

*NR sindicates the song was not released there.

*List of number-one dance hits (United States) *List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

ANASTACIA LINKS

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