Fantasia Barrino Taylor Sang on the 2024 Golden Globes Red Carpet

Fantasia Barrino Taylor made a stunning entrance at the 81st Golden Globes tonight. The Color Purple’s lead actress turned heads in a drop-waist gown by Dolce & Gabbana with matching opera gloves for extra drama. She wore her hair in a sleek crop and kept her makeup look minimal, apart from long lashes. Barrino Taylor was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

While making her rounds on the red carpet, she briefly sang “To God Be the Glory” in an interview with Variety’s Marc Malkin. “I’m a Southern girl, I’m a church girl,” she said of her gospel song choice.

The American Idol winner was honored as one of ELLE’s 2023 Women in Hollywood. In her interview with the magazine, Barrino Taylor spoke about how she related to her character, Celie.

“I was out here vulnerable, thinking that every man that says the love me, loved me. I’m in abusive relationships, getting my ass whooped. I’ve been spit on. My life is so much like Celie’s,” Barrino Taylor shared.

Now at age 39, Barrino Taylor has blossomed, and reprising her role as Celie in the movie musical adaptation is a new experience for her.

“This Tasia is different. It feels like Idol all over again, except that I’m a woman and I get it,” she added. “I’m in a better state of mind. I’m ready for Hollywood now. I was not ready for Hollywood when I was 19.”

Barrino Taylor also explained how The Color Purple led her to a moment of healing.

“We did the last scene, which was the picnic scene. Do you remember that? When Nettie comes? We did that scene and Oprah and Blitz, our producer, they were like, ‘Something is missing.’ So they called us all back on a Zoom call, me, Ciara—love her, and the kids—the actors who played my children and my grandchildren and they asked us, ‘Do you guys feel like we got what we needed at the end?’ And we all were like, ‘Nope.’

“I started asking them, ‘How would you all feel if you haven’t seen your sister in years? Matter of fact, you don’t even know if your sister is alive? You think your children dead, you done gave up all hope. And all of a sudden, girl, they show up.’ That’s like somebody just on the ground just hollering, balled up, thanking God,” she continued. “It happens in different ways for different people. Especially in that time. It was hard back then. I said, ‘You guys need to just let us tap into what we need to tap into.’ So, for me, that moment there was a…I don’t know if you remember, I kind of cried out. It was like a wail.

“That was the moment for me. I needed them to give me a moment. Ciara did too. I believe that it was healing for all of us in our own situations, and we needed a moment. Everybody was quiet on set. Oprah sent me the longest text message. She was talking. I saved it. I’ll never lose it. And she said, ‘I can tell something broke off of you.’ But watch this, she said, ‘But I broke too.’ Everybody on set. Quiet.

“That was the moment for me. That one wail, I just needed to let it out because I did get everything back that I lost. Look, if I could just let you into my world for a day, you’d be too tickled. I got everything back that I lost.”

Bri is the editorial and social media assistant at ELLE.com. Before joining the team at ELLE, she worked as the editorial assistant for Seventeen.com and Cosmopolitan.com where she covered all things celebrity news and pop culture. You can probably find her sipping an oatmilk iced chai while searching for the best new makeup products or thrifting her entire wardrobe.