The College Football Playoff (CFP) has enlisted Fantasia to sing the National Anthem at the 2024 College Football National Championship on January 8, 2024 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. During the performance, she will be joined by William Stokes, a 12th-grade student from Deer Park, Texas. Stokes will perform the “Star-Spangled Banner” in American Sign Language (ASL).
Fantasia is riding high after starring as Celie Harris-Johnson in the latest theatrical adaptation of The Color Purple. Starring Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo and Corey Hawkins, the film debuted in theaters on Christmas. The film was expected to generate $8-$10 million across 3,203 theaters during its first day in theaters. Ultimately, it outperformed early projections and brought in more than $18 million during its first day in theaters. Through its first week in theaters, the film has grossed more than $45 million.
“It’s a blazingly vibrant, emotionally resonant and exhilarating movie musical that does justice to Alice Walker’s iconic 1982 novel and the subsequent stage and movie versions while forging new creative paths and standing on its own as a bold and original work,” Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote.
“What a powerful, gripping, heartbreaking, moving and ultimately uplifting tour de force by director Blitz Bazawule and one of the most impressive ensembles in any movie this year, led by nomination-worthy work from Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo and Taraji P. Henson and extending all the way to the smallest of roles.”
Following the success of The Color Purple, she is reportedly set to release new music.
“I’m gonna go back to my little girl roots and do something Gospel. I’ve got to. Because you know at the end of the day I always do Gospel at my shows,” she told Tamar Braxton on Instagram Live.
