Joshua Mario Gracin (; born October 18, 1980) is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer. While serving in the
US Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...
, he first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the
second season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
''.
After his elimination from the show, Gracin completed his service in the Marine Corps, and after his
honorable discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...
, he signed a record deal with
Lyric Street Records
Lyric Street Records was the Disney Music Group's country music record label, founded in 1997 by Randy Goodman. The label had its first successes in 1998 with singles by Lari White and Aaron Tippin, both formerly of RCA Records. Other artists w ...
. 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
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, and was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. His second album, ''
We Weren't Crazy'', followed in 2008. This album produced five more chart singles, including a top ten in its title track. After signing with Average Joe's in 2010 he released "Cover Girl".
Biography
Gracin was born on October 18, 1980, to Mario and Brenda Gracin, and was raised in
Westland, Michigan
Westland is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Westland is located about west of Detroit, downtown Detroit. As of 2022, the city had a population of 84,037.
...
.
He has four sisters: Stacy, April, Melissa and Kristen. He grew up listening to
Elvis
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...
, the Beatles and to vintage rock and pop on a favorite local station. When he was 11 the station changed its format to country, and he was introduced to artists such as
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...
,
Joe Diffie
Joe Logan Diffie (December 28, 1958 – March 29, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. After working as a demo (music), demo singer in the mid 1980s, he signed with Epic Records' Nashville division in 1990. Between then and ...
,
George Strait
George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer.
Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...
and
Randy Travis
Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...
.
These artists' songs immediately caught his interest. "There's not another genre that better reflects situations in my life," Gracin said.
His 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, Gracin auditioned, as the only male, for a national pop orchestra and vocal competition, known as the Fairlane Youth Pops Orchestra, and won as a sophomore in high school.
During his high school career Gracin performed at state festivals, fairs, and pageants throughout the State of Michigan. At 16, he performed on stage at the
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
in a national talent show
and recorded a demo CD in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
.
Upon graduation from
John Glenn High School in Westland, he attended
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...
before he joined the United States Marine Corps.
After basic training, he returned to marry his wife and was assigned to
Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...
as a supply clerk.
Career
2003–2005: ''Josh Gracin''
In 2003, Gracin auditioned for the second season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
''. He made it to the finals and eventually came in fourth place on the show. However, because of his earlier 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-long tour as a recruiter, making appearances at special events around the United States to promote the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
. 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
Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...
' "I'm Movin' On" on one episode of ''American Idol''. As Rascal Flatts watched that episode on their tour bus, bass player Jay DeMarcus was impressed with Gracin's talent and reached out to him. He connected Gracin with Marty Williams, who had co-produced both of Rascal Flatts' breakthrough album and its successful follow-up. That set in motion a series of events (with a short one-year break to finish his Marine stint) that led to a record deal with
Lyric Street Records
Lyric Street Records was the Disney Music Group's country music record label, founded in 1997 by Randy Goodman. The label had its first successes in 1998 with singles by Lari White and Aaron Tippin, both formerly of RCA Records. Other artists w ...
in 2004.
His debut album ''
Josh Gracin'' was released on June 15, 2004, and was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
. The album's first three singles ("I Want to Live," "Nothin' to Lose," and "Stay with Me
rass Bed), all reached the top five on the ''Billboard''
Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, 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
James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...
album ''The Disney Songbook''.
At a performance in 2006, Gracin filled in, with good reviews, for
Lonestar
Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (key ...
's lead vocalist
Richie McDonald in concert when McDonald was recovering from a back injury.
2006–2008: ''We Weren't Crazy''

In March 2006, Gracin 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
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...
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."
2009–2011: ''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
Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (key ...
'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 it 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
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart.
Personal life
Gracin was married to Ann Marie. 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. After his ''Idol'' stint and his discharge from the Marine Corps, he moved to
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
in pursuit of his singing career.
Relations with his wife soured. On August 14, 2014, Gracin left a goodbye note on his Facebook account interpreted by some media as being a suicide note, particularly when it was tipped off to TMZ, and the note went viral. He was placed on a psychiatric hold in a hospital, but was later released after voluntarily checking himself into an inpatient psychiatric facility. Gracin has maintained the note was not meant as a suicide note, rather as he says a "poorly worded" painful separation letter as his wife insisted on divorcing him.
Ann Marie, his wife of 13 years, filed for divorce shortly after. Gracin shared new music, apologized and indicated he was on the road to recovery. In October 2015, Gracin became engaged to his new girlfriend Katie Weir. The couple married on May 6, 2017. The single "Nothin' Like Us" is reference to his new relationship.
On July 10, 2019, Gracin and Weir announced they were expecting their first child together. Their son was born on January 13, 2020.
Songs performed on ''American Idol''
*
Due to Corey Clark's disqualification, the Top 9 performances became Top 8 when no one was eliminated.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Other charted songs
Music videos
References
External links
Official website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracin, Josh
1980 births
21st-century American singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
American Idol participants
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War
American male singer-songwriters
Living people
Lyric Street Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Michigan
People from Westland, Michigan
United States Marines
Average Joes Entertainment artists
Country musicians from Michigan
21st-century American male singers