Josh Gracin Biography

Josh Gracin Biography

Josh Gracin (born Joshua Mario Gracin, October 18, 1980 in Westland, Michigan) 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 and two more Top Five hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and was certified gold by the RIAA. His second album, We Weren't Crazy, followed in 2008, and has produced three more chart singles as well, including a Top Ten in its title track.  Gracin was born and raised in Westland, Michigan to parents Mario and Brenda Gracin. He has four sisters, Stacy, April, Melissa and Kristen. Josh's vocal debut was in an easter musical presented by his church and then 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 while 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.

He then auditioned for the second season of American Idol, a talent competition television program which airs on the Fox Networks; Josh appeared and competed on the program, finishing fourth place overall. Because of his prior commitment to the Marine Corps, Gracin did not participate in the subsequent American Idol Finalists concert tour of American venues. Gracin was sent on tour as a recruiting tool, making appearances at special events around the United States to promote the U.S. Marine Corps. After four years of service, he was honorably discharged in September 2004.  After his Idol stint and his discharge from the Marine Corps, Josh and his wife, Anne Marie Stevens, moved to Tennessee in pursuit of his singing career. Together, they have two daughters: Briana Marie Gracin, born March 30, 2002, and Gabriella Ann Gracin, born November 15, 2006, as well as a son, Landon Joshua Gracin, born August 4, 2005. The couple are currently expecting their fourth child.

In 2004, Gracin was signed to a record deal Lyric Street Records. His debut album Josh Gracin was released on June 15, 2004; with sales of over 750,000 to date, the album has received RIAA gold certification in the United States. 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 2003, 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 one performance in 2006, Gracin filled in for Lonestar's lead vocalist Richie McDonald in concert when McDonald was recovering from a back injury.  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 not released. 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 of 2007 and for the chart week dated August 2, 2008, 40 weeks after it debuted on the charts, it has reached the Top 10 and is his fourth Top 10 overall and first Top 10 since "Stay With Me (Brass Bed)" in 2005. The album was released on April 1, 2008.