Biography

When Anastacia came onto the music scene in 2000 with her debut album Not That Kind, she wowed audiences and critics alike, with her powerful vocal style and range. She promptly conquered Europe and secured her place as an International superstar with gold

, platinum

and multi-platinum

sales status in more than a dozen countries.

Anastacia is one of the most talked about artists in Europe and has been recognized as one of the hottest International talents to hit the music scene in years. She’s been publicly praised by Elton John, presented to royalty in several countries, outpaced the likes of Madonna in capturing a number of highly prestigious awards including Best International Female Singer at this year’s Edison Music Awards in Holland, Best New International Artist at the 2001 World Music Awards, won Best Female Pop at the 2001 MTV Europe Music Awards, penned and performed “Boom,” the official song for 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM) and was nominated for two Brit Awards. She has also played simply electrifying concerts to sold-out audiences in 5 countries.

Now, with the release of her second album, Freak of Nature, which debuted at #1 on the European Hot 100, Anastacia has not only conquered Europe with worldwide sales of 15 million but has taken America by storm. Anastacia has earned 42 Platinum Album Awards !

2002 has already seen a whirlwind of activity for this chanteuse in the U.S. Earlier this year, Anastacia kicked off the release of Freak with a show stopping performance on “VH1 Divas Las Vegas,” where she sang a duet with Celine Dion as well as her first single “One Day in Your Life.” Soon after, she made appearances on nearly every major network show including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, Live with Regis & Kelly, The View, CBS Early Show, Craig Kilborn and The Wayne Brady Show. Her album has also received critical praise ranging from Billboard, USA Today, The LA Times, Interview Magazine and The Associated Press to name a few.

Now, with a series of Dr. Pepper commercials with Cindy Lauper set to air in January and her second single “You’ll Never Be Alone” quickly rising up the charts, Anastacia’s fierce sense of individuality and vocal prowess defies categorization and takes the term “a freak of nature” to a whole new meaning.

“I am a Freak of Nature,” says Anastacia. “I’ve always gotten looks of shock (or horror), depending on how you look at it, because I gather the way that I look doesn’t match the way I sound. So this album is basically about those types of people -- freaks. I guess you could say that I’m telling their story as well as mine.”

“It was a very liberating record to make,” she continues. “I’ve always liked the idea that some of the world’s greatest artists have been “freaks,” or non-conformists, and that gave me courage, a constant reminder in the studio to make the record the way that I wanted.”

Freak of Nature was recorded in two months at Sony Music Studios in New York City. It reunited Anastacia with Grammy Award winning producer Rick Wake (Jennifer Lopez, Diana Ross, Celine Dion and Natalie Cole), Sam Watters of Color Me Badd and Louis Biancaniello, all of whom worked with Anastacia on her debut album. Wake produced seven of the twelve tracks on this new album, including the title track “Freak of Nature,” “I Dreamed You,” “Paid My Dues,” “Over Due Goodbye,” “How Come The World Won’t Stop,” “Why’d You Lie To Me” and “Secrets” while Watters and Biancaniello produced “You’ll Never Be Alone,” “Don’t Stop” “One Day In Your Life” and “Dontcha Wanna.” Anastacia also worked with writer Billy Mann on two songs including the uplifting “Overdue Goodbye” and “How Come The World Won’t Stop.” She also collaborated with writers Damon Sharpe and Greg Lawson.

“We had two months to make the record,” explains Anastacia, “and that was good by me. We had no time to second guess or to get cute, so the writing and recording was spontaneous, raw and direct.”

And that’s okay with Anastacia. Her talents aside for a moment, this Chicago-born, New York raised talent has always been very spontaneous, raw and direct herself. She has allowed life’s lessons to guide her and continues to live by that motto. She credits this outlook to her ongoing battle with Crohn’s disease, which she was diagnosed with at 13.

“For those with Crohn’s, holding in our emotions or masking her unhappiness fuels the symptoms,” said Anastacia. “What is seen as a curse for some, is a gift for me, because it has helped me to discover who I really am as a person. The disease has given me a clear window to my own emotions, which causes me to live each moment and to understand exactly how I’m behaving in a particular situation.”

This outlook also gave her the strength she needed when she was coming up in the music business or in other words, paying her dues. Following several jobs as a dancer on “Club MTV” and appearances in numerous hit videos, her dismissal as a receptionist in a Los Angeles hair salon found Anastacia on the unemployment line and completely disenchanted with a business that she had been around all of her life -- her father was a crooner and her mother, an actress who worked in musical theater and on Broadway.

“I was told that I needed to look a certain way, to sound a certain way, to move a certain way and all I wanted to do was just sing. I couldn’t understand why this was such an issue.”

But convinced to take one last shot by her manager, Anastacia got the break she had been waiting for when recognized by the right people following an appearance on MTV’s “The Cut.” Anastacia was courted by several producers and was finally signed to Epic Records. However, it was also on this show that Anastacia formed a key relationship with Michael Jackson who encouraged Anastacia to keep singing after he saw her performance on the show.

Five times platinum under her belt and International stardom to boot, Anastacia has clearly made the “the cut” of another kind. She has performed on several of the top award shows around the world as well as with some of the most popularly regarded artists of our time including Luciano Pavoratti and Elton John. In addition, her relationship with Michael Jackson recently came full circle when he invited her to sing “What More Can I Give” at his side along with Faith Evans, Mariah Carey, N’SYNC and other top performers at the historic United We Stand Sept. 11 benefit concert in Washington DC.

Anastacia also co-wrote all twelve songs on Freak of Nature, which give the listener a birds-eye view of just what makes this talent tick. From “Paid My Dues”, which tells of her tedious route to becoming a professional recording artist, to “Secrets,” written nearly seven years ago about the importance of encouraging kids to express their thoughts and emotions so that they don’t become problematic later in life—an obvious reference to Anastacia’s Crohn’s disease.

Freak of Nature follows Not That Kind only in the sense that it is part dance, part R&B and part rock. Anastacia credits her recent world travels, due to her rigorous International promotional and performance schedule, for exposing her to new musical influences and sounds that are clearly heard on Freak of Nature. For instance, the world music elements of African-laced drumbeats and fiddle heard on “Overdue Goodbye.” Holding nothing back in her tremendously powerful vocal range, Anastacia also mixes it up on her performance of the scorching power ballad “You’ll Never Be Alone.”

“It's not just one sound that carries you through Freak of Nature,” says Anastacia. “I find it to be a playful recording with attitude. It's strong and powerful to me, but in the end people should make up their own minds.”

Needless to say our minds are made up and why shouldn’t they be? Anastacia is an original – her talents are unique, her songwriting honest, her singing passionate, her personality sincere. Is she a freak of nature? Perhaps. But this is one freak of nature that’s got the goods.

- Swedish Music Awards 2002: Nominated for two awards: Best Artist of the Year and Best Song of the Year for “Paid My Dues”

- Bambi Awards - Best International Pop Artist
- Best International Female, Edison Awards