Danny Gokey

There are only a few tv shows that my wife and I look forward to each year.  American Idol is one of them.  As a guy who works in Christian radio, I am amazed at how much talent has been discovered for "us" because of American Idol (Mandisa, Jeremy Rosado, Kris Allen, Jason Castro, Chris Sligh, Jordin Sparks, Chris Daughtry).  

Danny Gokey left Idol to pursue a career in mainstream country.  He tried it for a couple of years, but in June of this year he changed directions and released an album to Christian radio.  Like so many of the artists we play, Danny started singing in church and later became the music director.  Obviously music was always his passion.  

Here are a couple of things you probably didn't know about Danny:

• He was a church music director while also driving a semi truck (18 wheeler) for a local logistics company for two years.
• He was known for his many pairs of eyeglasses that he often wore on the show.  Danny always said he might start an eyewear line to help raise funds for his foundation (http://www.sophiasheart.org/) and Match Eyewear teamed with him for the Danny Gokey Eyewear collection.  Launched in March 2012, the collection has exceeded sales projections with over 1.7 million in net retail sales.
• Gokey married his high school sweetheart, Sophia Martinez, on May 15, 2004.  The two had been together since 1997.  On July 9, 2008, four weeks before he auditioned for American Idol, Gokey's wife died from complications of a routine surgery for congenital heart disease.

The last point makes this song even more special.  If you have experienced some sort of tragedy in your life, now you know that this is more than a song for Danny too.