Taylor, née Barrino, shared a video of the moment she received her "Colour Purple" phone call with her infant daughter, Keziah, nearby. "The last time I stepped into this character, the similarities between what I portrayed on stage and what I experienced in my own reality were too close for comfort," wrote Taylor, who previously portrayed Celie on Broadway. "I've learned since then that my pain was only an introduction to a greater purpose of meaning and assignment."
Taylor won season three of "American Idol" in 2004. She's since released seven studio albums, and in addition to appearing in "The Colour Purple" musical, Taylor was also a guest star in "After Midnight," a Broadway musical about jazz and Harlem's Cotton Club.