Anastacia biography

Anastacia Newkirk was born in New York City. She was raised by her mother in Chicago after her parents separated and divorced. When Anastacia was 14, she moved back to the West Side of Manhattan. She graduated from the Professional Children's School in Manhattan where she wrote poetry, listened to records with her mother and became a regular with her sister at a New York dance club 1018.

Anastacia has really bad eye-sight and always wears prescriptioned glasses! She has a thing for glasses and has a huge collection. In fact, she bought a new pair in Adelaide just recently on her promotional visit.

She has a long scar across her stomach. Although you can't see it in her video clip, it was visible when she performed in Adelaide.

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.

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.

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.

The first single, released in March, was "Left Outside Alone", which saw a change in direction for Anastacia.

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.

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 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.

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.