Danny Gokey, 14 years removed from his long stint on “American Idol,” has become one of the bigger stars in the Christian pop/rock world.
Gokey, who finished third on season 8 of “American Idol,” has generated enough top 10 Christian hits over the past decade that he can’t fit them all in his 75-minute set, a good problem to have for any artist. He is currently on tour and performed last week at Eagle’s Landing Baptist Church in McDonough, the same church where Christian rock band Casting Crowns originated.
This past Sunday, he also donated $20,000 in diapers and grocery store gift cards in McDonough to parents who need them through his new non-profit Better Than I Found It, which is also being spun into a TV series.
Gokey previously ran a nonprofit that operated a homeless shelter but has now shifted to give money to changemakers in different communities.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Besides charity, Gokey has been focusing on getting back on the road. A balladeer at heart with songs like “Hope in Front of Me” and “Tell Your Heart To Beat Again,” he can now sell out 1,500-seat theaters.
With most of 2020 and 2021 a dead zone for touring due to the pandemic, Gokey made up for it by playing 200-plus concerts in 2022. This year, he’s paring back to a more manageable 80 dates with plans to record a new album.
“I want to make my Grammy-winning album,” he said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This doesn’t mean I’m going to win one. I just want to make a Grammy-caliber album.” He plans to use successful producers he’s worked with in the past as well as new ones and focus on topics that may not be traditional Christian music subject matter. “There are some risks I want to take,” he said.
From a genre perspective, he has expanded his reach into the Latin market. His first wife Sophia Martinez, who died of congenital heart disease right before he auditioned for “American Idol” in 2009, was Puerto Rican. His current wife Leyicet Peralt is Cuban-Caribbean. “I’m a white guy who speaks Spanish,” he said. “I’ve had some pretty good success in Latin America. I’m doing my first bookings in the Spanish world.”
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