Fantasia Barrino Rocks Ford Center Thursday with Concert

Oxonians are you ready? This Thursday, powerful R&B music will amplify the Ford Center from the lungs of a former American Idol champion. Everyone is welcome to listen to former American Idol star, Fantasia Barrino, who is going to kick off the Black Alumni Reunion Weekend.

Fantasia won season 3 of the popular show, American Idol, at the age of 19 back in 2004. From there, her career took off. Shortly after her victorious win, Barrino released her first album, Free Yourself, which included the single, “I Believe.” This song debuted as No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart, making Barrino the first artist to debut a single as No. 1 in Billboard history.

The release of Barrino’s second album, Fantasia, topped the charts for eight weeks straight. During that time, Barrino wrote her New York Times bestselling memoir; Life is Not a Fairytale. She also was the star of her younger self in the Lifetime movie, Fantasia.

Barrino didn’t stop there. She tackled the stage by playing “Celie” in Broadway’ play, The Color Purple. For this performance she won the 2007 Theatre World Award. She also had her own show on VH1 called Fantasia For Real, which lasted two seasons.

But most recently, Fantasia returned to the American Idol stage in 2013 to perform her heartbreaking song, “Lose to Win.” In 2014, she was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, where Barrino was born and raised.

The Grammy-winning singer will perform a variety of songs from all four of her albums. This show will capture the audience’s attention with colorful costumes, wonderful lighting, and incredible vocals.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets range from $75-$100 for the general public. But for students tickets are only $30. You can purchase tickets at the UM Box Office either online or by calling 662-915-7412. If you are purchasing tickets online you must create an account or login to see the seating chart. But you can also receive a 25 percent off discount by using the coupon code BAR2015 at checkout.

Barrino will ignite the little town of Oxford and will have people up on their feet by the end of the night.

Molly Brosier is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at mebrosie@go.olemiss.edu.