The Truth About Tyler Perry And Fantasia Barrino's Relationship

While singer Fantasia Barrino might seem like she has it all — a successful career, a loving husband in Kendall Taylor, two beautiful children — the American Idol winner has experienced her fair share of turmoil. She's endured financial hardship, was dragged by the tabloids over an alleged affair with a married man, and nearly died from an intentional overdose on sleep aids and aspirin. "A lot of artists that you see, they look like they have it, and we smile and we come out and we put on a good show, but in real life some of them are struggling and we don't have it," Fantasia told radio host Tammi Mac.

When the "I Believe" singer was at one of her lowest points, Fantasia revealed that writer/director Tyler Perry (pictured right) helped her bounce back. "Tyler Perry's actually a good friend of mine," she told Mac. "He would call and check up on me. He was one of the ones, when I lost everything, he came and blessed me. And I thank him for that." She said Perry helped her better understand her financial challenges. "You look around and you could be working for 10 years, you've got all these people on your team, you're paying this person, that person, and you look up, and you don't have no money in the bank because you've given it to everybody else ... You have a gift and you're allowing everybody else to profit off of the gift."

Perhaps it was the positive relationship between Perry and Barrino that inspired her most profound act yet.

Although the road back was rough, American Idol's Fantasia Barrino said she spent the years after her overdose "building myself back up." In fact, in a symbolic act of self-love, Fantasia "married" herself. As she told  talk show host Harry Connick Jr., "I felt like before true love could come I needed to learn how to love myself again ... I was so busy trying to take care of everybody else, so busy looking for that love that I was ending up in all the wrong situations ... and so I said I'm going to marry myself ... I'm going to focus on Fantasia."

Barrino now wants to do for others what Tyler Perry did for her. She wants to pay it forward by serving as an inspiration for those who've faced seemingly insurmountable pain. "It's been a massive journey of so many great and bad things, but all necessary," she told the Chicago Tribune. "I've got to get out here to be present with people and showing them love and how you can fall down but get back up." 

Tyler Perry once called Fantasia Barrino "one of the great singers of all time," which probably explains why she was invited to perform at one of the biggest events of her friend's career, his Madea Farewell Play Tour. Apparently, Barrino "was sitting in the audience" during the live show's stop in Charlotte, N.C. when she "was put on the spot to spread a little joy with her powerhouse voice," per BET. Fans in attendance were surely thrilled when she "grabb[ed] the mic" and started "singing her classic 2006 hit, 'When I See You' in the middle of the audience aisles."

Perry took to Instagram on Feb. 17, 2020, to share a video of Barrino belting out her tune, captioning the cool moment, "That time Madea asked @tasiasword to sing during our R&B medley. Yeap that really happened in Charlotte at #MadeasFarewellTour!!"

Of course, this isn't the only time Barrino has used her singing skills to help out Perry.

The ever-generous Tyler Perry wanted to "spread joy" in March 2020, which is why he enlisted Fantasia Barrino and other stars for the "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands," a nod to the spiritual song of the same name. "How about a little something to try to make us all feel a little bit better?" Perry said at the beginning of the challenge video, which he posted to Instagram.

The producer then explained how the challenge worked, noting that, after he started the song, other stars would pitch in their rendition of the lyrics. Fellow American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson, Meet the Browns and House of Payne actor David Mann, as well as gospel singers Yolanda Adams and Tamela Mann, all participated in the "sing-along," culminating in a moving performance of the tune.

Perry's inclusion of Barrino in this challenge is just another example of how he values the singer's talent.