Over the course of her life Anastacia has battled numerous health problems including being diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 13, breast cancer at age 34 and the heart condition supraventricular tachycardia, which the singer discovered she had at age 39. In February 2013 it was announced that Anastacia was battling a more intense form of breast cancer. On July 20 the singer announced via Twitter that she was again cancer free, while on October 1, 2013 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Anastacia informed the media that she had undergone a double mastectomy.
In recognition of her decade-long charitable efforts in breast cancer awareness, Anastacia became only the second woman to be presented with the Humanitarian Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2013. Anastacia met Lisa Braude (who later became her manager) in 1997. She encouraged her to join MTV's talent show The Cut in 1998. She surprisingly made her way to be one of the ten finalists, performing her own composition entitled "Not That Kind". Even though she did not win the contest, she had successfully impressed some notable artists, like Elton John and Michael Jackson as well as the show's judges that included David Foster and Faith Evans. This afterwards led her to sign with Daylight, one of Epic's labels, by March 1999. Backed up by leading American producer/writers, she released her debut album, Not That Kind on June 13, 2000. The album reached the top ten in eight countries in Europe and Asia. It went four times platinum in Europe and triple platinum in Australia; her debut single "I'm Outta Love" was a global smash hit in 2000, topping the charts in Belgium, Australia and New Zealand, peaking at number two in France, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland as well as also reaching number six both in Germany and the UK. In the U.S., it was only a minor radio hit. The second single "Not That Kind" reached number 11 in the UK and became a top 10 hit in Italy. It also entered the top 20 in Switzerland and France. "Cowboys & Kisses" was released as the third single from the album, charting in the top forty in some European countries. As the last promotional only single, "Made for Lovin' You" charted in the UK at number twenty-seven and in France at number seventy-two. While "I'm Outta Love" was a top ten hit on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States, "Not That Kind" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100; however by the end of the year Anastacia would go on to be the World's Best Selling New Female Pop Artist at the 2001 World Music Awards. Her second album Freak of Nature released in 2001, achieved successful sales in the UK where it went triple platinum as well as being a hit throughout continental Europe, however unlike her debut it did not match the same level of international success. The first single released was "Paid My Dues". The song became an overall hit, in 2001, peaking in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland, and reaching the top ten in several other mainland European countries. The second single, released in 2002, "One Day in Your Life", reached number eleven in the UK and the top ten in many European countries. The next single "Why'd You Lie to Me" reached the top thirty in the UK. "You'll Never Be Alone", the fourth single, reached number twenty-eight on the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S. When the album was finally released in the United States in May 2002, she dedicated the album to Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who had died in a car wreck the month before. Lopes was partly responsible for Anastacia's success, since Lisa hosted MTV's The Cut. Soon after she released a double disc edition featuring two bonus hits, remixes for three of the tracks on the album and two live tracks taken from a Japan gig that was performed on the September 13, 2002.
As stated on the Australian talk show Rove in 2004, Anastacia wanted to have more edge to her vocals as she felt there was something missing from her previous works. She brought in many rock instruments which brought a new atmosphere to her music. She also felt that she still needed the funkiness and the pop as the singer felt that too much edge would sound wrong with her voice. Out of this a new sound was formed. She describes her sound as Sprock—a combination of soul, pop, and rock. She named the album after herself.
The first single, released in March, was "Left Outside Alone", which saw a change in direction for Anastacia. It was one of the biggest songs in Europe of 2004, reaching number one in Austria, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland; number two in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway; and number three in the United Kingdom and Hungary. Overall the song remained at No. 1 on the European Billboard singles chart for 15 weeks. The song also topped the Australian charts, Anastacia's second number one in the country, where it went on to become the second-biggest selling single of 2004.
In late 2005, she released her first greatest hits collection, called Pieces of a Dream, named after a track of the same name. The album spawned the hit singles "Pieces of a Dream", which peaked at number one in Spain, and the duet with Eros Ramazzotti, "I Belong to You (Il Ritmo della Passione)", which was a number 1 hit in Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland and a hit throughout continental Europe. Even though Sony BMG did force her to release this collection, Anastacia has said that she is happy now that it was created as it was like a "story book", or summary of the first six years of her career. In 2005, she was recognized for worldwide sales of over 20 million.
Not long after the release of "I Belong to You (Il Ritmo Della Passione)", Anastacia released her first live DVD Live at Last on March 27, 2006 in Europe. The DVD contains footage from concerts in Berlin and Munich. It includes music videos to her four singles; "Left Outside Alone", "Everything Burns", "Pieces of a Dream", and "I Belong to You (Il Ritmo Della Passione)", five alternative videos ("I Do", "Rearview", "Seasons Change", "Underground Army", and "Time") to songs from her self-titled album, and a documentary about the tour. Soon after the DVD release Anastacia took a break from the music industry and began concentrating on her growing fashion line with s. Oliver.
In 2009, the Women's World Award presented Anastacia with the World Artist Award, recognizing the singer's success and ongoing positive influence in pop music.
In June 2009, Anastacia began her second tour throughout Europe to promote her fourth studio album. The tour was funded by the singer herself, not her label, and was well received by critics and fans alike. In November and December 2009 Anastacia, Chaka Khan and Lulu were headlining the Here Come the Girls a special Christmas concert that visited the United Kingdom only. On December 7, 2009 Anastacia opened the annual Royal Variety Performance with Lulu and Chaka Khan, performing a rendition of "Relight My Fire". The tour was an overall success, selling out 24 shows. In October 2009, Anastacia released a collaborative single with British band Ben's Brother entitled "Stalemate", which was included on the band's album Battling Giants.
In June 2012, Anastacia was confirmed as a guest judge for the ninth series of The X Factor UK at the Glasgow auditions alongside judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos. Her appearance on the show was heavily praised with sources stating that she had "great chemistry" with the others and had greatly impressed the producers, causing speculation that the singer would become the new fourth judge. However it was later revealed that the singer was forced to reject the judging offer due to contractual agreements regarding the Night of the Proms European winter tour as well of the release of her independent cover album. During the summer of 2012, Anastacia toured throughout Europe.
On September 17, it was announced that the singer had signed with the "BMG Masters Model" service of BMG Rights Management, along with the service's primary German-based distributing partner, Rough Trade Distribution. Global distribution is expected to be achieved via a range of partnering labels and distribution services. The deal included the release of her following two albums, It's a Man's World, a collection of covers of songs by male rock artists released on November 9, 2012, followed by an album of original material.
On February 27, 2013, Anastacia announced that she was forced to cancel her European tour due to the fact that she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time and was undergoing treatment. On July 20, 2013, Anastacia was given the all-clear from breast cancer for a second time, tweeting "Cancer Free Forever". On October 1, 2013 Anastacia informed the media that she had undergone a double mastectomy. Due to her decade-long charitable efforts in breast cancer awareness, Anastacia became only the second woman to be presented with the Humanitarian Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2013. Anastacia later confirmed via her Twitter account that she was writing and recording songs for her sixth studio album, including working with producers John Fields and Steve Diamond. She also stated it would mark a return to her "sprock" sound. The album, entitled Resurrection, was released in May 2014 and was met with both critical and commercial success, giving the singer her sixth top ten Italian album and fifth top ten UK album. It also reached the top 5 of the Swiss and German charts and the top ten of the Dutch charts. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, acknowledging a return to form from the singer as well as a creative resurgence. The lead single "Stupid Little Things" was released on April 4.
