NEWSFantasia Barrino's 2010 Overdose Taught Her She Has a 'Purpose' in Life: 'I'll Never Do That Again'
While most see Fantasia Barrino as a success story after she won Season 3 of American Idol, the singer endured a string of troubles in the following years.
In fact, she wound up hospitalized in 2010 after overdosing on sleep medication and aspirin.
Fantasia Barrino won 'American Idol' in 2004.
However, Barrino, 39, wouldn't call the incident a suicide attempt — instead, she explained, "I just wanted the noise to stop."
At the time, the then-single star was working to support her child, and she was also facing a lawsuit from her own father, who wasn't happy with the way he was portrayed in her memoir.
While the singer was feeling down in the dumps, she was instantly inspired by something one of the nurses caring for her said: "You see that young lady. She’s strong. She’s a blessing," she told Barrino. "Don’t you come back in here no more. You fight."
"I left that hospital and said, ‘I’ll never do that again, because I have purpose,’” the Color Purple actress shared. “I’m going to speak into every young person’s life and tell them, ‘Don’t you dare give up.’”
The star isn't afraid to open up about the time she tried to self-medicate.
The star acknowledged that things could "get ugly again" one day, but if they do, she's ready to face it head on.
"I don’t care if there’s storms. I realized I have the spirit of an eagle,” she declared. “They fly over storms.”
This isn't the first time the mom-of-three has opened up about the scary situation, sharing more details when she appeared on The Real in 2019.
The singer stars in the upcoming film adaption of 'The Color Purple.'
"I didn't have any fight in me. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted out. I was tired of people doing me wrong, constantly, over and over again," she shared. "My head was hurting me. I was over it."
"I just sat in the closet and looked at the mirror and took all the pills in the bottle. I wanted to go to sleep and just be at peace," Barrino continued. "I knew exactly what I was doing. You can't accidentally take a whole bottle of pills."
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Becoming a wife and focusing on motherhood also helped her recover.
"I think it had a little something to do with my husband. I will have to say kudos to him because when he came into my life, he brought out a Fantasia that I didn’t even know was there," she told Essence of husband Kendall Taylor, 43, changing her outlook. "You have to get in that place where you realize who you are and what you want. You know what I mean? I believe that’s when it’ll come. When he came into my life, I realized the queen I was because of the king that he is."
Barrino and Kendall Taylor married in 2015.
"I always tell people I’m a wife and mother first. Marriage and motherhood give me what I really need," the Life Is Not a Fairytale author gushed of family life. "I don’t want my kids to ever grow up and be like, 'My momma was never there for this or for that.' I make sure I am there for the most important things I need to be there for."
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Variety spoke with Barrino about her overdose.
