Fantasia Barrino Comments on AFTER MIDNIGHT Closing: 'It Makes Me Sad'

In a new interview with Billboard.com, After Midnight star Fantasia Barrino commented on the recent news that the Broadway musical, nominated for seven Tonys and a winner for choreography, would shutter at the end of the month.

The singer/songwriter originated the role last November when the show opened and subsequently returned for a four-week engagement, leading up to the Tony Awards on June 9, 2014.

"It makes me sad," began the American Idol champ. "Gladys Knight was supposed to go on after Patti Labelle [the show's current guest star]. That was the first Broadway show that I started with. Those young people I worked with became like family to me. I saw how hard they worked; I know how much they love and respect jazz music. They're talented and will do great things."

She continues, "But I'm also sad because I felt it was a much-needed play for people to know that jazz still lives. The music is great. So hopefully someone else will come back out with something like that so young people will know where music really started."

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Barrino rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe," which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, she released her debut album, Free Yourself, which went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA and garnered Barrino three Grammy nominations in 2006.

In 2006, she released her second album, Fantasia, which featured the single "When I See U" which topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for eight weeks. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA and received three Grammy nominations in 2008. She then played the part of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, for which she won a 2007 Theatre World Award. Her third studio album, Back to Me, was released worldwide on August 24, 2010 and features the single "Bittersweet," which peaked in the top ten on the R&B chart. The single won her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. As of February 2012, Barrino has sold 2,842,000 albums and 1,425,000 tracks in the United States.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski