Fantasia Barrino's Daughter Looks Just Like The Singer
Fantasia Barrino worked her way into the hearts of America through the culture-shifting musical competition, American Idol. The intense (and sometimes hilarious) reality series premiered in June 2002 with its original set of judges: Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell.
Barrino competed on Season 3 of American Idol in 2004 and quickly grew to being a fan-favorite with her super soft speaking voice, but roaring singing voice. She went on to *not-so spoiler alert* win the competition after a performance of Porgy and Bess' "Summertime."
Her performance, which left herself (and many others) in tears, immediately catapulted her career. Prior to becoming a TV icon, the 35-year-old singer was a teen mom. Barrino had her daughter Zion Quari at 16 with her ex-boyfriend Brandel Shouse. She later had her second child, son Dallas Xavier, whose father is still unknown.
Zion Quari, who turns 19 in August 2020, is a high school graduate, and like many other teens, is living her best selfie life on Instagram. As such, fans can see how much she looks like her musically gifted mom.
Fantasia was around Zion's age when she found 'American Idol' success
Fantasia Barrino's career was extremely successful following her American Idol title. After defeating her final opponent Diana DeGarmo by 1.3 million votes, the then-19-year-old mother-of-one went on to have a successful career. Her debut album Free Yourself was released in November 2004 and debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 list.
She quickly became a popular R&B singer and found placements on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list with singles "Truth Is" and "Free Yourself," and the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay with "Truth Is." Outside of her music, Fantasia found a variety of ways to get her voice heard. In 2004, she played Aretha Franklin in the TV series American Dreams and even made a cameo on The Simpsons a year later.
Her performance as Celie in the 2007 Broadway musical The Color Purple gave way for her stage debut, which received wave reviews from many publications. "Her voice, which in the beginning is small, pinched and bruised, grows gradually big, resonant and joyous," wrote the Los Angeles Times, "Her body, closed in on itself, slowly unfolds, and her face, on which terror and trust commingle, becomes radiant."
Although the singer's life has been in the spotlight, the same can't be said for her look-alike daughter, who's now almost the same age Fantasia was when she appeared on American Idol.
Zion Quari lives a private life in North Carolina
Since her American Idol win, Fantasia Barrino has become a legend of her own right outside of just R&B music. She was the first artist of any genre to have two songs in the top three of the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay. Her first single from her debut album "I Believe" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart list, which was a first in the publication's history.
Barrino even had a Lifetime movie special, The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairytale, which documented her turbulent early years. The movie (where Barrino played herself) became the second most-viewed movie for the channel.
As for Zion Quari, not much is known about the Charlotte, N.C. teen who keeps a pretty private life. Her Instagram profile is strictly selfies with a few cameos from her mom and emoji-heavy captions. Who knows if Zion will follow in her mom's musical footsteps, but she could have a successful career in the modeling world.
Fantasia Barrino and her daughter have come a long way
Fantasia Barrino has dedicated her life to Zion and she even remembers the moment that she got hooked on American Idol, mainly because it showed her what she could have. "My daughter was about 2, and I was living with a man who took good care of us. I had been in abusive relationships with constant fighting and black eyes, but this man taught me that abuse wasn't love. He told me I was beautiful. Anyway, I remember all my friends talking about the show, but I never watched until the episode Ruben Studdard won. I just cried and cried," she said to Oprah Winfrey in an interview for O, The Oprah Magazine in September 2007.
Barrino added to Oprah, "I was crying because someone had finally gotten something he wanted. I was also a little angry: Why am I sitting here in the ghetto, living on food stamps and a tiny government check? I'll be honest: Those checks just weren't enough, and I had to steal what I needed — diapers, milk, food." Luckily, her singing pipes and American Idol win catapulted her and Zion out of poverty, changing both of their lives for the better.