Anastacia Lyn Newkirk (born September 17, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter and former dancer. Her first two albums Not That Kind (2000) and Freak of Nature (2001) were released in quick succession to major success. Spurred on by the multi-platinum, global smash “I’m Outta Love”, Anastacia was awarded as the ‘World’s Best-Selling New Female Pop Artist’ in 2001. Her commercial success continued with international hits such as “Paid My Dues”, “One Day In Your Life” and the official song of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, “Boom”. After recovering from cancer, she returned with 2004’s Anastacia which deviated from previous albums into pop-rock. Peaking at number one in 11 countries, it became Europe’s second-biggest-selling album of the year. Its lead single “Left Outside Alone” remained at number one on the European Billboard chart for 15 weeks and helped Anastacia launch the most successful European tour by a solo artist that same year. The album also provided another three singles: “Sick and Tired”, “Welcome to My Truth”, and “Heavy on My Heart”.

In 2005, the multi-platinum compilation project Pieces of a Dream was released, which spawned the chart-topping duet with Eros Ramazzotti, “I Belong to You (Il Ritmo della Passione)”. Her fourth studio album Heavy Rotation (2008) produced the songs “Absolutely Positively”, “Defeated”, and “I Can Feel You”. Her cover album It’s a Man’s World (2012) was followed by a sixth studio album Resurrection (2014), which reached the top ten of several European charts. Her Ultimate Collection was released in 2015 and peaked in the top ten of the UK charts, giving the singer her sixth top-ten album in Britain. In 2017, Anastacia released the studio album Evolution and its lead single “Caught in the Middle”. Anastacia has established herself as one of the best-selling international female singers of the 2000s and 2010s. As of 2016, she has reported worldwide sales of more than 50 million. She has had five top ten singles on U.S. Billboard’s Dance Club chart and three albums on its Top Album Sales chart.

Known for her powerful mezzo-soprano voice and her small stature of 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm), she has been dubbed “the little lady with the big voice”. She underwent corrective LASIK surgery in August 2005, although she still frequently wears the glasses for which she became noted when she first became famous.

During her life Anastacia has battled many health problems. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was 13, breast cancer at the age of 34, and supraventricular tachycardia aged 39. In 2013, aged 45, Anastacia was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time. In recognition of her decade-long charitable efforts in breast cancer awareness, Anastacia became the second woman ever to be presented with the Humanitarian Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2013.

Anastacia Lyn Newkirk was born on September 17, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois; her late father Robert Newkirk (of German descent) was a club-singer and her mother Diane Hurley (of Irish descent) an actress on Broadway. When she was five years old her parents split up and Robert abandoned the family, only attempting to make contact with her after she became famous – but she refused to see him. The rest of the family moved to a one-bedroom apartment in New York City when Anastacia was a teenager. She enrolled at the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan. After graduation, she worked jobs at restaurants and hair salons while pursuing a career in the music industry.

Anastacia was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was thirteen. Despite her ongoing health problems Anastacia continued to pursue her ambitions for the next decade. Anastacia started her career in 1983 as a dancer for hire. Her first claim to fame was as a professional dancer (dancer for hire), making regular appearances in the mid-1980s and early 1990s on MTV’s Club MTV. She appeared in two music videos for American hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa (“Get Up Everybody (Get Up)” in 1988 and “Twist and Shout” in 1989). In 1990, she started her musical career as a backing vocalist. She sang back-up vocals on pop star Tiffany’s New Inside album in 1990. In 1991, she featured in the music video for “My Fallen Angel” by Dominican singer Coro. In 1992, she gained her first break as a solo singer on BET’s television series ComicView, singing Oleta Adams’ “Get Here”.

In 1993, she moved to Los Angeles to record the song “One More Chance” for the producer OG Pierce, but it brought no record deal. That same year, she recorded a collaboration with David Morales called “Forever Luv”. Throughout the mid-1990s producers claimed to be intrigued by her voice’s unusual tone, but Anastacia would be continuously told that “her sound just didn’t quite fit into any category”. In 1994, she sang back-up vocals on Jamie Foxx debut album Peep This, and in 1995, Anastacia sang back-up on Paula Abdul’s third studio album Head Over Heels. By 1997, Anastacia had become a member of a band called The Kraze which she remained a part of until 1999. In 1997, she also sung in the background choir for Kurt Carr’s gospel vocal ensemble called The Kurt Carr Singers on their album No One Else. She had two duet songs with Cuban composer Omar Sosa, “Mi Negra (1998), Tu Bombón” and “Tienes Un Solo” (1999).

In 1998, Anastacia was unemployed after being fired from a beauty salon for “being too loud” and she was disappointed after years of bad luck in the music industry. She was considering switching to a career in child psychology. Lisa Braude, who later became her manager, encouraged her to join MTV’s talent show The Cut in 1998. Anastacia made her way to be one of the ten finalists, performing her own composition entitled “Not That Kind”. Anastacia attracted the interest of record labels after appearing on The Cut hosted by rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes . Even though she did not win, she had impressed Elton John and Michael Jackson as well as the show’s judges David Foster and Faith Evans. Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records, a custom label of Sony Music Entertainment’s Epic Records in March 1999.