Josh Gracin Biography
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Josh Gracin
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| Josh Gracin | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joshua Mario Gracin |
| Born | October 18, 1980 |
| Origin | Westland, Michigan, USA |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Labels | Lyric Street |
| Associated acts | Brett James Tim McGraw |
| Website | joshgracin.com |
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Joshua Mario (Josh) Gracin (born 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. This album also produced five more chart singles, including a Top Ten in its title track.
Contents |
Biography
| Joshua Gracin | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Josh |
| Place of birth | Westland, Michigan |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 2000-2004 |
| Rank | Lance Corporal |
| Unit | 1st Maintenance Battalion |
Gracin was born on October 18, 1980 and raised in Westland, Michigan1 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 boot camp, 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.
Personal life
After his Idol stint and his discharge from the Marine Corps, Josh and his wife, Anne 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. 2
Musical career
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This section requires expansion with: More sources and information; critical reception, musical stylings. |
Josh Gracin
In 2004, Gracin was signed to a record deal at Lyric Street Records.1 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.
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.3
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, 2008.4 Gracin wrote the song about his wife. 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 and enlisted Lonestar's Dean Sams to co-produce it. In the entry, Gracin also said it is his first project since leaving Lyric Street Records.5 The second single, "She's A Different Kind Of Crazy" was released in August 2009.
Songs performed on American Idol
| Week/Theme | Date Performed | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinals N/A |
February 25, 2003 | "I'll Be" | Edwin McCain |
| Top 12 Motown |
March 11, 2003 | "Baby I Need Your Loving" | Four Tops |
| Top 11 Songs of the Cinema |
March 18, 2003 | "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon | Aerosmith |
| Top 10 Country-Rock |
March 25, 2003 | "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)" | Garth Brooks |
| Top 9 Disco |
April 1, 2003 | "Celebration" | Kool & the Gang |
| Top 8 Billboard #1 |
April 8, 2003 | "Amazed" | Lonestar |
| Top 7 Billy Joel Songs |
April 15, 2003 | "Piano Man" | Billy Joel |
| Top 6 Contestant's Choice |
April 22, 2003 | "That's When I'll Stop Loving You" | 'N Sync |
| Top 5 Neil Sedaka 1960s |
April 29, 2003 | "Bad Blood" "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" |
Neil Sedaka Neal McCoy |
| Top 4 Bee Gees |
May 6, 2003 | "To Love Somebody" "Jive Talkin'" |
Bee Gees |
Discography
| Releases | ||
|---|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 2 | |
| ↙Singles | 10 | |
| ↙Music videos | 5 | |
| ↙No. 1 Singles | 1 | |
| References and footnotes | ||
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Chart positions6 | Certifications (sales threshold) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | CAN Country | |||||||
| 2004 | Josh Gracin
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2 | 11 | — |
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| 2008 | We Weren't Crazy
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4 | 33 | 40 | |||||
| 2010 | She's a Different Kind of Crazy
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To be released | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions8 | RIAA9 | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | US Pop |
CAN Country | ||||||
| 2004 | "I Want to Live" | 4 | 45 | — | 10 | — | Josh Gracin | ||
| 2005 | "Nothin' to Lose" | 1 | 39 | — | 1 | Gold | |||
| "Stay with Me (Brass Bed)" | 5 | 47 | 66 | 6 | — | ||||
| 2006 | "Favorite State of Mind" | 19 | 119 | — | 31 | — | We Weren't Crazy | ||
| "I Keep Coming Back" | 28 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | "We Weren't Crazy" | 10 | 82 | 78 | 38 | — | |||
| 2008 | "Unbelievable (Ann Marie)" | 36 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Telluride" | 34 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | "Enough" | — | — | — | — | — | She's a Different Kind of Crazy | ||
| "She's a Different Kind of Crazy" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or not certified | |||||||||
Other charted songs
| Year | Single | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Please Come Home for Christmas" | 51 | Non-album singles |
| "O Holy Night" | 59 |
Music videos
| Year | Song title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "I Want to Live" | Brent Hedgecock |
| 2005 | "Nothin' to Lose" | Trey Fanjoy |
| "Stay with Me (Brass Bed)" | ||
| 2006 | "Favorite State of Mind" | Roman White |
| 2007 | "We Weren't Crazy" | Stephen Shepherd |
See also
References
- ^ a b "Josh Gracin Profile". MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/gracin_josh/artist.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/11/josh-gracin-isa.html
- ^ "Josh Gracin Sings Lead at Lonestar Concert". CMT News. December 8, 2006. http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1547658/josh-gracin-sings-lead-at-lonestar-concert.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ "Singles Calendar". MusicRow. 2008-08-13. http://www.musicrow.com/CSC002. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1610621/josh-gracin-offers-new-song-confirms-split-from-label.jhtml
- ^ "Album retrieval: Josh Gracin". Allmusic. 2009-06-06. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=JOSH. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ "Josh Gracin - RIAA certification searchable database". RIAA. 2005-06-23. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Josh%20Gracin&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=25. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ "Allmusic singles retrieval: Josh Gracin". Allmusic. 2009-06-06. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=JOSH. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ "Josh Gracin - RIAA certification singles searchable database". RIAA. 2005-08-08. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Josh%20Gracin&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=25. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
External links
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