Joshua Mario "Josh" Gracin (born October 18, 1980) is an American country music singer. A former member of the United States Marine Corps, he first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of the Fox Networks talent competition American Idol.

After his elimination from the show, Gracin completed his service in the Marine Corps and after his honorable discharge, he signed a record deal with Lyric Street Records. His self-titled debut album was released in 2004. It produced a Number One hit, "Nothin' to Lose", and two more Top Five hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. His second album, We Weren't Crazy, followed in 2008. This album also produced five more chart singles, including a Top Ten in its title track.

Biography

Gracin was born on October 18, 1980 and raised in Westland, Michigan to parents Mario and Brenda Gracin. He has four sisters, Stacy, April, Melissa and Kristen. He grew up listening to Elvis, the Beatles and the vintage rock and pop on a favorite station locally. When he was 11, the station changed its format to country, and he began listening to artists such as Garth Brooks, Joe Diffie, George Strait and Randy Travis, who immediately caught his interest."There"s not another genre that better reflects situations in my life," Josh said.

Josh's vocal debut was in an Easter musical presented by his local church.  His first public appearance was at an eighth grade talent competition where he sang Brooks' 1993 hit "Standing Outside the Fire" and easily won over an audience full of more traditional dance music-loving cohorts. 

Later in various school productions and talent shows, Gracin auditioned for and won a national pop orchestra and vocal competition, known as the Fairlane Youth Pops Orchestra, as the only male and just a sophomore in high school. During his entire high school career Josh performed at state festivals, fairs and pageants throughout the State of Michigan. At sixteen he performed on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in a national talent show and recorded a demo CD in Nashville. Upon graduation from John Glenn High School in Westland, he attended Western Michigan University before he joined the United States Marine Corps. After basic training, he came home and married, and eventually became a supply clerk at Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego, California.

Musical career

2003-2005: Josh Gracin

In 2003, Gracin auditioned for the second season of American Idol, a talent competition television program which airs on Fox Network. He made it to the finals and ultimately came in fourth place on the show. Unfortunately, because of his prior commitment to the Marine Corps, Gracin was not able to participate in the lucrative American Idol Finalists tour of American venues. Gracin was instead sent on a year tour as a recruiting tool, making appearances at special events around the United States to promote the United States Marine Corps. After completing his fourth year of service, he was honorably discharged in September 2004.

Gracin's true transition from reality show finalist to recording star began when he sang Rascal Flatts' "I'm Movin' On" on one episode of American Idol. The guys in Rascal Flatts happened to be watching that show on their tour bus. Bass player Jay DeMarcus, impressed with Gracin's talent, reached him and put him in touch with Marty Williams, who had co-produced both the band's breakthrough album and its successful follow-up. That set in motion a series of events (with a short year break to finish his Marine stint), that led to a record deal with Lyric Street Records in 2004. His debut album Josh Gracin was released on June 15, 2004 and was certified gold. The album's first three singles, (I Want to Live, Nothin' to Lose, & Stay with Me [Brass Bed]), all reached Top 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, with "Nothin' to Lose", the second of those three, reaching Number One.

In 2005, Gracin also contributed the song "Working for the Weekend" to the Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack, and he also sang on "When I See an Elephant Fly" on the Jim Brickman album The Disney Songbook. At a performance in 2006, Gracin filled in, with good reviews, for Lonestar's lead vocalist Richie McDonald in concert when McDonald was recovering from a back injury.

2006-2008: We Weren't Crazy

In March 2006, Josh released his fourth single, "Favorite State of Mind." Although it was a Top 20 hit on the country chart, Gracin's second album was delayed. Originally slated to be titled All About Y'all, the second album was later re-titled I Keep Coming Back and then finally We Weren't Crazy, after the title of its third single. "We Weren't Crazy," the third release from the album, entered the country music charts in October 2007, and for the chart week dated August 2, 2008 (40 weeks after it debuted on the charts), it reached a peak of number 10. The album was finally released on April 1, 2008. A fourth single, "Unbelievable (Ann Marie)", was released to country radio on August 25, 2008. Gracin wrote the song about his wife. "Telluride," a song originally recorded by Tim McGraw on his 2001 album Set This Circus Down, was released as the album's fifth and final single. Gracin was dropped from Lyric Street Records following the release of "Telluride."

2009-present: Redemption

A new song, "Enough", was posted on his MySpace page on May 1, 2009, and released to radio in June 2009. According to his blog, Gracin wrote the song and enlisted Lonestar's Dean Sams to co-produce it. "Enough" is his favorite song in this collection and he said, "Writing this song felt like a turning point artistically. I was better able to take what was going on in my head and get in onto paper in a way I feel is relatable to so many." In the entry, Gracin also said it is his first project since leaving Lyric Street Records. The second single, "She's A Different Kind Of Crazy" was released in August 2009.

In January 2010, Gracin signed with Average Joe's Entertainment. His first single under Average Joe's, "Cover Girl," was released in August 2010. Gracin's third album, Redemption, was released on November 8, 2011. The album's next single, "Long Way to Go," became Gracin's first single to chart on the adult contemporary chart.

Personal life

After his Idol stint and his discharge from the Marine Corps, Josh and his wife, Ann Marie (wed in 2001), moved to Tennessee in pursuit of his singing career. They have three daughters: Briana Marie Gracin, born March 30, 2002, Gabriella Ann Gracin, born November 15, 2006, and Isabella Sophia Gracin, born November 12, 2008, as well as a son, Landon Joshua Gracin, born August 4, 2005. Speaking about his success, Gracin says "I don't see myself as a celebrity at all," he says. "I'm very shy and not all that self-confident, and I feel like an ordinary person, a normal guy who's very approachable. And if I get a little carried away," he adds with a laugh, "I've got my wife to keep me humble and bring me back down to earth." 'I'm no longer just some kid with a dream. I'm a father and husband and this has turned into an accomplishment and an experience that's going to help me raise my children and show them what's possible."

Songs performed on American Idol

Week/Theme	Date Performed	Song	Artist
Semifinals N/A	February 25, 2003	"I'll Be"	Edwin McCain
Top 12 Motown	March 11, 2003	"Baby I Need Your Loving"	Four Tops
Top 11 Songs of the Cinema	March 18, 2003	"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon	Aerosmith
Top 10 Country-Rock	March 25, 2003	"Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)"	Garth Brooks
Top 8 Disco	April 1, 2003	"Celebration"	Kool & the Gang
Top 8 Billboard Number 1	April 8, 2003	"Amazed"	Lonestar
Top 7 Billy Joel Songs	April 15, 2003	"Piano Man"	Billy Joel
Top 6 Contestant's Choice	April 22, 2003	"That's When I'll Stop Loving You"	'N Sync
Top 5 Neil Sedaka 1960s	April 29, 2003	"Bad Blood" "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye"	Neil Sedaka Neal McCoy
Top 4 Bee Gees	May 6, 2003	"To Love Somebody" "Jive Talkin'"	Bee Gees

• ^ Due to Corey Clark's disqualification, the Top 9 performances became Top 8 when no one was eliminated.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions			Certifications (sales threshold)
		US Country	US	US Indie
Josh Gracin	Release date: June 15, 2004 Label: Lyric Street Records Formats: CD, music download	2	11	"	US: Gold
We Weren't Crazy	Release date: April 1, 2008 Label: Lyric Street Records Formats: CD, music download	4	33	"
Redemption	Release date: November 8, 2011 Label: Average Joe's Entertainment Formats: CD, music download	39	"	39
""" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions				Certifications (sales threshold)	Album
		US Country	US	US Pop	US AC
2004	"I Want to Live"	4	45	"	"		Josh Gracin
	"Nothin' to Lose"	1	39	"	"	US: Gold
2005	"Stay with Me (Brass Bed)"	5	47	66	"
2006	"Favorite State of Mind"	19	119	"	"		We Weren't Crazy
	"I Keep Coming Back"	28	"	"	"
2007	"We Weren't Crazy"	10	82	78	"
2008	"Unbelievable (Ann Marie)"	36	"	"	"
	"Telluride"	34	"	"	"
2009	"Enough"	"	"	"	"		Redemption
	"She's a Different Kind of Crazy"	"	"	"	"
2010	"Over Me"	"	"	"	"
	"Cover Girl"	57	"	"	"
2011	"Long Way to Go"	"	"	"	16
""" denotes releases that did not chart or were not certified

Other charted songs

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		US Country
2006	"Please Come Home for Christmas"	51	Non-album songs
	"O Holy Night"	59

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2004	"I Want to Live"	Brent Hedgecock
2005	"Nothin' to Lose"	Trey Fanjoy
	"Stay with Me (Brass Bed)"
2006	"Favorite State of Mind"	Roman White
2007	"We Weren't Crazy"	Stephen Shepherd
2011	"Can't Say Goodbye"	Adam Dew

See also

This biography article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Josh Gracin". Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions this article may contain.