Joshua Mario "Josh" Gracin (born October 18, 1980) is a 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^[1] 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 local station. Then, when he was 11, the station's format changed to country, and he started getting into artists such as Garth Brooks, Joe Diffie, George Strait and Randy Travis ^{[2] [3]} 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 ^[3]

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. ^[3] 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 ^[3] and recorded a demo CD in Nashville. Upon graduation fromJohn Glenn High School in Westland, he attended Western Michigan University before he joined the United States Marine Corps. ^[3] After boot camp, he came home and married, and eventually became a supply clerk at Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego, California.

Musical career

Josh Gracin

In, 2003 Gracin auditioned for the second season of American Idol, a talent competition television program which airs on Fox Network. Josh did well in the grueling series of auditions and competed on the program, finishing a respectable fourth place.^[4] His most popular segments on Idol were those when he sang Country, which best showcased his vocal talents. Unfortunately, because of his prior commitment to the Marine Corps, Gracin was not able participate in the lucrative American Idol Finalists tour of American venues. ^[2] 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.^[4]

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. ^[5] 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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[6]

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 music charts, 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 later We Weren't Crazy, also 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 #10. The album was released on April 1, 2008. A fourth single, "Unbelievable (Ann Marie)", was released to country radio on August 25, 2008.^[7] Gracin wrote the song about his wife. ^[2] Following this song was "Telluride", a song originally recorded by Tim McGraw on his 2001 album Set This Circus Down. After the release of "Telluride", Gracin was dropped from Lyric Street Records.

Third album

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 ^[2] 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.” ^[2] In the entry, Gracin also said it is his first project since leaving Lyric Street Records.^[8] The second single, "She's A Different Kind Of Crazy" was released in August 2009.

In January 2010, Gracin signed with Average Joe's.^[9] His first single under Average Joe's, "Cover Girl," was released in August 2010, which is on his new album She's A Different Kind Of Crazy. This new project shows Gracin's growth as a writer, producer and artist. ^[2]

Personal life

After his Idol stint and his discharge from the Marine Corps, Josh and his wife, Ann Marie (who 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.^[10]

Songs performed on American Idol

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

• ^A Current single.

Other charted songs

Music videos