Anastacia (born Anastacia Lyn Newkirk, on September 17, 1973) is an American pop singer who has sold more than 33 million records since the release of her debut album Not That Kind in 2000.

Anastacia became an icon in Europe and Oceania, but never made as big as an impact in the U.S. Anastacia's music, with its often deep meanings, and pop-esque tunes appeal to a wide range of ages. She became famous by her trademark glasses, that she used until recently.

She's a spiritual person, but she doesn't follow any religion.

Anastacia was born in Chicago, Illinois into a showbiz family: her father was a singer and her mother an actress in Broadway musical theatre. Her family relocated to New York City when she was a teenager and she enrolled at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan.

Anastacia soon became interested in dance despite being diagnosed with Crohn's disease. She first gained prominence stealing the show from D.L. Hughley while he was hosting BET's Comic View, singing Oleta Adams' "Get Here" in 1992. During the early 1990s, she appeared regularly on Club MTV and in a couple of videos for rappers Salt-N-Pepa. In 1999, she attracted the interest of record labels after making the finals of MTV talent show The Cut. Anastacia signed a contract with Daylight Records, a custom label of Sony BMG's Epic Records in March 1999. The Cut was hosted by Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of R&B and hip-hop group TLC. A then-unknown Anastacia finished in third place, but impressed Lopes and the show's three judges so much that she scored herself a record deal anyway.

Her debut album Not That Kind was released in 2000 and was a huge success reaching the top ten in eight countries in Europe, Asia, and Oceania. It went triple platinum in Australia spurred by the success of her debut smash "I'm Outta Love" which was the most popular single of the year in that country for 2000. While "I'm Outta Love" was a Top 10 song on the U.S. Dance chart, "Not That Kind" only reached the lower parts of the Billboard 200, since the single never managed to cross over to the American pop charts.

Her second album, 2001's Freak of Nature achieved respectable sales although not matching the level of international success of Not That Kind. However, her sophomore effort did beat its predecessor in her home country. Its debut single, "One Day In Your Life", though not a smash hit, just barely made the top 40 and was also a hit on the club charts and at rhythmic radio. When Freak Of Nature 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.

Anastacia also joined Shakira, Cher and Mary J. Blige for VH1's Divas Live in 2002. Anastacia also contributed a song "Love Is A Crime" to the Chicago soundtrack. Anastacia was selected to sing the theme from 2002 FIFA World Cup: "Boom". From this album, she released singles as "Paid My Dues", "One Day In Your Life", "Why'd You Lie To Me" and "You'll Never Be Alone" which reached #28 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S.

In January 2003, Anastacia discovered she had breast cancer while preparing for breast reduction surgery due to orthopædic reasons. She immediately successfully completed a course of treatment. Anastacia subsequently established a fund through the "Breast Cancer Research Fund" to promote awareness of breast cancer amongst younger women. Anastacia entered record studios in September 2003 to begin recording her next album - the self-titled Anastacia - working with Glen Ballard, Dallas Austin, and Dave Stewart for release in 2004. The first single, released in March, was "Left Outside Alone", which saw a change in direction for Anastacia, embracing a rock element (she describes her sound as "sprock" - a combination of soul, pop and rock). On the album, Anastacia also collaborated with P.O.D. lead singer Sonny Sandoval on the socially-conscious track "I Do".

Anastacia proved to be a smash hit reaching the top of the album charts in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Greece, Germany, and Italy and number 2 in Spain. "Left Outside Alone" proved to be equally successfully reaching number 1 in Australia, Spain, Italy, Austria and Switzerland; number 2 in the Netherlands and number 3 in the UK, and reaching the top 5 on the composite European chart. Strong airplay throughout Europe gave the song a Top 40 Charts world airplay ranking as one of the top five songs played on top 40 radio stations throughout the world in April 2004. Unlike her first two albums, which were released in her homeland of America, Anastacia was not, despite being scheduled for release on three occasions. "Left Outside Alone" was released twice, but failed to pick up heavy airplay, resulting in the album being postponed and eventually cancelled. Anastacia released three further internationally successful singles; "Sick and Tired" (which gave her another #1 in Spain and another UK Top 5 single), "Welcome to My Truth" (her best-selling hit in Spain), and the ballad "Heavy on My Heart" proceeds from the sale of which went towards her 'Anastacia Fund' (Charitable organisation providing research funding for breast cancer).

In late 2005, she released her first greatest hits collection, entitled Pieces of a Dream: Best Of, named after a track of the same name, which she had written with former Evanescence star, Ben Moody. The album features all of the singles from her albums, including "Everything Burns", which she recorded with Moody for the Fantastic Four film soundtrack, and two other new tracks, "In Your Eyes", and a duet with Eros Ramazzotti, "I Belong to You (Il Ritmo Della Passione)". A club megamix of some of the best remixes of her singles was also included, and the album was also released as a special limited edition, featuring deluxe packaging (it is presented in a hardback A5 book), and a second CD, containing remixes of her singles. The album entered the UK Top 10 album charts at #6, and is close to going platinum in the UK. It has also sold strongly in other territories. On March 28, 2006, the album was given a U.S. digital release to iTunes, although there were no promotions. This was the first album released by Anastacia to the U.S. since Freak of Nature in summer 2002.

Anastacia released her first live DVD Anastacia: Live at Last on March 27, 2006 in Europe. The DVD contains footage from concerts in Berlin and Munich, the making of the DVD, music videos to her latest four singles and some alternative videos (to "I Do", "Rearview", "Seasons Change", "Time", and "Underground Army". The DVD debuted at #2 (current position) in the Dutch Music DVD Top 30.

She is also set to release a perfume called "Resurrection", which will hit the stores by the end of the third quarter of 2006. Anastacia explains:

It's sexy, clean, natural, yet still has a little bit of kick and spice to it.