Oprah Winfrey Brings ‘American Idol’ Winner to Tears on Birthday

Heavy/Getty Oprah Winfrey serenaded "Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino on her birthday

Oprah Winfrey brought “American Idol” season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino to tears on her 39th birthday, serenading her with other famous friends on June 30, 2023, during the Essence Festival in New Orleans.

The talk show queen, actress and movie producer has been a big supporter of Barrino, who will star in the musical remake of “The Color Purple,” the 1985 Steven Spielberg film that earned  Winfrey an Oscar nomination for her role as Sofia in her feature film debut.

Barrino will make her own feature film debut when the new version is released in theaters on December 25, starring as Celie — a role that she played on Broadway beginning in 2007 — and has said that filming the movie “healed” her. Here’s what you need to know:

‘The Color Purple’ Cast Members Surprise Fantasia Barrino on Her Birthday

Winfrey shared a video of Barrino’s surprise birthday celebration on Instagram, during which two of her “Color Purple” co-stars, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks, could be seen delivering a cake with candles and singing “Happy Birthday” to her along with a roomful of others. Barrino got visibly emotional as Winfrey stepped in to embrace her and Henson shouted, “Our Celie!”

Despite all of her success as a talk show host, Winfrey said in April that starring in “The Color Purple” alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover was “the biggest and most important thing that ever happened to me and continues to be,” according to People. She is now hoping the same will be true for Barrino, who’s had lots of highs and lows since her “Idol” win in 2004.

The new movie, an adaptation of the Broadway musical based on a Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, follows Celie from childhood — a role that will be played by “The Little Mermaid” star Halle Bailey — through her trauma-filled life as she eventually discovers the power of love and her own worth.

In 2022, after filming wrapped on the movie, which is executive produced by Winfrey and Spielberg, Barrino shared an Instagram video of a special delivery she received from Winfrey — a large custom-made gramophone with a plaque that read, “Fantasia Barrino as Celie, The Color Purple Musical Experience, 2022.”

In a notecard that came with the gift, Winfrey wrote, “Fantasia — What it took to do this — only you know. I do know the sacrifice and weight of it all. Your reward is coming. Wait til the world responds to the Celie you’ve created.”

Oprah Winfrey Says Fantasia Barrino Overcame Huge Obstacles to Become Successful

GettyFantasia Barrino and Oprah Winfrey attend at ‘From the Page to the Stage and Beyond: A Discussion of the nearly 40-Year Legacy and Impact of The Color Purple’ during the 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ on June 30, 2023

Much like the character she plays in “The Color Purple,” Barrino has gone through her own steep challenges in life. She arrived at the “American Idol” auditions as a 19-year-old single mother to daughter Zion while surviving on food stamps in the projects of High Point, North Carolina, according to on interview with Winfrey via Oprah.com.

Barrino had dropped out of school after being raped at age 14, she told Winfrey, and became pregnant at 17, but seeing Ruben Studdard win the second season of “Idol” inspired her to give the show a try. Competing against 40,000 hopefuls who tried out, Barrino made it all the way to the finale alongside Diana DeGarmo.

“When I was announced as the winner, I fell into Diana’s arms and hugged her so hard that my bracelet, my necklace, and my heel broke,” she said. “It was as if the chains of bondage had finally been removed from my life.”

During a May event in honor of the upcoming movie, per the New York Daily News, Winfrey said that although Barrino had starred in the original Broadway show years ago, making the movie was a particularly healing experience for her.

“She said this movie changed her because it allowed her to forgive,” Winfrey revealed. “She said, ‘People coming to this movie will be healed … because I was healed … I came from no education. I came from sexual assault as a young girl. I came from domestic abuse and I learned through this movie that not only could I heal, but I could forgive.'”

At the same event, according to Glitter Magazine, Winfrey said, “When (Fantasia) sings that anthem, ‘I Am Here,’ she is speaking to everybody who’s been told no, everybody who’s been turned down, everybody who’s been turned back, everybody who’s been allowed to believe that they could make it. And then they did, and they’re still here.”