Anastacia

Anastacia Life Story

Anastacia Lyn Newkirk was born in Chicago, Illinois to Robert Newkirk and Diane Hurley. After her father passed away, they moved to New York City. When she was a teenager, she enrolled at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan. At the age of thirteen, she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. In 1999, she attracted the interest of record labels after making the finals of MTV talent show "The Cut". A then-unknown Anastacia finished in second place, but impressed Lisa Lopes and the show's three judges so much that she scored herself a record deal anyway. Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records, a custom label of Sony BMG's Epic Records in March 1999.

Anastacia's debut album "Not That Kind" was released in 2000 with nearly all of the lyrics written herself. The album was a huge success, reaching the top ten in eight countries. 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". 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 September 13, 2002. Anastacia joined Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Cyndi Lauper, Shakira, Cher, Dixie Chicks and Stevie Nicks for VH1's Divas Live in 2002 and she also contributed the song "Love Is a Crime" to the "Chicago" soundtrack.

In January 2003, Anastacia decided to have her breasts reduced because of 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.

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" Her self-titled album topped the charts in 10 countries. In late 2005, she released her first greatest hits collection, entitled Pieces of a Dream, named after a track of the same name.