Joel Philip Stacey (born January 21, 1978) is an American singer who first gained national attention on season 6 of the television

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

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 being eliminated from the competition on May 2, 2007, he was signed to a recording contract with Lyric Street Records. His debut single, "If You Didn't Love Me", was released to radio in early 2008 as the lead-off to his self-titled debut album, which was issued April 29, 2008, on Lyric Street. Stacey's second album, '' Into the Light'', was released on August 25, 2009, via Reunion Records.

Life and career

Stacey was born in

Harlan County, Kentucky Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 26,831. Its county seat is Harlan, Kentucky, Harlan. It is classified as a moist county—one in which alcohol sale ...

. His mother, Adrell Horn, was born in

Madison County, Kentucky Madison County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. At the 2020 census, its population was 92,701. Its county seat is Richmond. The county is named for Virginia statesman James Madison, who later became the f ...

and works as a nurse in

Smyrna, Tennessee Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. Smyrna's population was 53,070 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Tennessee by population in that census. Smyrna is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. Histo ...

. His father, Gary Stacey, was a Church of God (Cleveland) minister who

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

s a church. Both of Stacey's grandfathers, Carlie Horn and E.T. Stacey, were also Church of God pastors. Stacey grew up in Fairfield, Ohio and began singing in

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. In 2001, he joined in the U.S. Navy, and was the lead vocalist for the Navy Band Southeast. In 2006, he served as the music minister for First Coast Christian Center in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Stacey graduated from

Wichita Northwest High School Wichita Northwest High School, known locally as Northwest High, is a public Secondary education in the United States, secondary school in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves 1,320 students ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

in 1997. He attended

Lee University Lee University is a Private university, private Church of God (Cleveland), Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was founded in 1918 as the Church of God Bible Training School with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. Th ...

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of, and largest city in, Bradley County, Tennessee. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradle ...

. He holds a degree in vocal performance from Lee, where he was a member of one of its auditioned choirs, Lee Singers, and part of that choir's internally selected traveling ensemble, Second Edition. He was eliminated from ''American Idol'' along with

Chris Richardson Christopher Michael Richardson (born February 19, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter who was the fifth-place finalist on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Personal life Richardson was born in Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ...

in the top six results episode; no one had been eliminated the week before.

Albums

In late 2007, Stacey signed to a recording contract with Lyric Street Records. His first single "If You Didn't Love Me" was released to country radio on January 7, 2008, and peaked at number 28 on the U.S. ''

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 Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts. It was written by

Jason Sellers Jason Dale Sellers (born March 4, 1971) is an American country music artist. After several years of touring the United States in his family's band, Sellers joined the road band of Ricky Skaggs. By 1997, he was signed to a recording contract with B ...

, Wendell Mobley, and

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 ...

' lead vocalist Gary LeVox. His self-titled debut album was released in April 2008. Stacey also released a promotional single entitled "Old Glory" in July, and parted ways with Lyric Street soon afterward. On January 28, 2009, Stacey signed to Reunion Records, a

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

label. His first album for the label, ''Into the Light'', was released on August 25. It has sold 18,000 copies so far. In 2011, Stacey partnered with

Market America Market America is a multi-level marketing company founded in 1992 by JR and Loren Ridinger. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the company employed around 800 people as of 2016. The products offered by the company include household cle ...

to launch Conquer Entertainment as a tool for independent artists to reach more fans through networking. Together, they released the album, ''Faith'', as a means to promote the program and reach more artists.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Music videos

American Idol performances

* Stacey was saved first from elimination. * When

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American television presenter and producer. Seacrest is the host of '' Wheel of Fortune'', having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and ser ...

announced the results in the particular night, Stacey was among in the bottom three but declared safe second when Haley Scarnato was eliminated. * Due to the

Idol Gives Back ''Idol Gives Back'' was a charitable campaign that spanned two episodes of ''American Idol'' during its sixth season. A second ''Idol Gives Back'' concert and fundraiser occurred on April 9, 2008, during the seventh season of the show. ''Idol ...

performance, the Top 6 remained intact for another week.

References

External links

Official Phil Stacey Website
*
Phil Stacey Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stacey, Phil 1978 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters American Idol participants American male singer-songwriters Living people United States Navy sailors American performers of Christian music Lyric Street Records artists People from Fairfield, Ohio Country musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky People from Harlan County, Kentucky People from Richmond, Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Ohio Country musicians from Ohio 21st-century American male singers United States military musicians