Article By Tanya Baker // EEW Magazine // Family Values

Christian R&B singer Fantasia Barrino is a hard-working woman, but she isn’t so caught up in the industry that she leaves her family behind.

In a candid interview, the wife, mother, and Grammy-winning “Holy Ghost” songstress, made it clear that her first ministry is to her family.

“I always tell people, I’m a wife and I’m a mother first before I’m this, and that gives me what I need,” the 35-year-old “American Idol” alum told Cori Murray and Charli Penn, co-hosts of Essence Magazine’s “Yes, Girl!” Podcast.

The wife of Kendall Taylor, whom she wed in 2015, is the mother of two children: Dallas Xavier Barrino, 7, and daughter Zion Quari Barrino, 18. Even though she is often on the road and performing on stages and venues across the nation, the family-first entertainer made it known that she will drop everything in a heartbeat for Xavier and Zion.

The reason? “I don’t want my kids to ever grow up and be like, my momma was never there for this, for that. So I make sure I am there for the most important things I need to be there for. Zion can call me anytime. The school calls me. I’m registered— I’m a volunteer at the school. Yeah, I’m very involved.”

Last month, the Rock Soul artist, who is unashamed of her biblical values and relationship with Jesus Christ, sat down with Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club” and discussed the importance of prayer in her marriage and submission to her husband.

“We need more men to stand up and lead the way,” she told New York –based, syndicated radio personalities DJ Envy, Charlamagne tha God, and Angela Yee. “Most women are trying to be the leader. That’s why you can’t find a man. You can’t be the king in the house. Fall back and let your man lead the way,” she said.

Though Barrino’s commentary stirred controversy, the conservative Christian, who champions traditional values and was raised in the church, stands by her convictions and does whatever it takes to keep her family happy.

Barrino said she even goes on field trips in support of her only son Xavier, although she is often met with shock from the other moms wondering what the famous singer is doing there.

However, after they get over the surprise of it, the vocalist, who frequently draws comparisons to the late Aretha Franklin, said she becomes fast friends with the other, non-celebrity moms. They wind up having a chatty old good time.

“I’m just like you,” Barrino pointed out.

When one of the co-hosts noted her genuineness, Barrino responded, “If I lose it, smack me three times, and tell me to go home, and come back out, and try it again.”