Joshua Mario "Josh" Gracin (born on October 18, 1980) is a country musicsinger who arose to fame as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of American Idol. After his departure, his debut album went Gold in 2004.
Gracin appeared on the second season of American Idol. His country sound and his ongoing military service immediately made him stand out from Idol's pop- and R&B-oriented contestants. Gracin performed strongly whenever he could sing something with a country flavor, but sometimes struggled in other genres.
Gracin attracted audience support by being willing to butt heads figuratively, and in one case almost literally (Simon Cowell). Some attention was given to why Gracin was permitted time away from his unit to participate in the show, while many other Marine units were being sent to participate in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. However, Gracin had permission from the Marines to do the show, and his unit had not been selected for deployment.
More discussion ensued when with five singers left, Gracin survived a vote in which Trenyce was voted off; many viewers felt the wrong choice had been made, and a camera reaction shot revealed Gracin appearing uncomfortable with the result. In any case, he was voted off the following week, ending in a very respectable fourth-place position.
Due to having to resume his Marine commitments, Gracin did not participate in the subsequent American Idol Finalists concert tour of American venues. After four years of service, Gracin was honorably discharged in September 2004.
Now going by Josh Gracin, he was in the meantime signed to Lyric Street Records; Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts had become a booster, after Gracin's performance of their I'm Movin' On on Idol. His debut album Josh Gracin was released on June 15, 2004 and has shipped more than 750,000 units and is certified Gold by the RIAA. It includes the #1 smash Nothin’ To Lose and the Top 5 hits Stay With Me (Brass Bed) and I Want To Live ([1]).
In 2005 Gracin 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.
In March 2006 he released a new single entitled Favorite State Of Mind. This will be the first single off his release set for June of this year. Gracin was also a guest star on The Young and the Restless in June 2006. On October 22, 2006 Josh sang God Bless America during the 7th inning of the Game 2 of the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Josh's new album titled All About Y'all is set to be released May 1, 2007.
Josh and his wife Ann Marie moved to Franklin, Tennessee; together they have a daughter, Briana Marie Gracin, born on March 30, 2002, and a son, Landon Joshua Gracin, born on August 4, 2005. Their third child, Gabriella Ann Gracin was born November 15, 2006.
Josh has filled in for Lonestar's lead vocalist Richie McDonald in concert on a few occasions. Richie is reportedly leaving Lonestar in 2007, and some rumors have circulated that Josh might replace Richie as lead vocalist in the group. Incidentally, Josh sang Lonestar's song "Amazed" when he was a finalist on the show "American Idol".
