Michael Johns (born Michael John Lee; 20 October 1978 – 1 August 2014) was an Australian singer who finished in eighth place on the seventh season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'', in 2008. In 2009, he released a music album, ''

Hold Back My Heart ''Hold Back My Heart'' is the third studio album by 2008 ''American Idol'' contestant Michael Johns. It sold a total of 20,000 copies. Track listing #" Heart on My Sleeve"( James Morrison) -3:41 #" To Love Somebody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) ...

,'' which sold 20,000 copies. Johns died on August 1, 2014, at the age of 35 of

dilated cardiomyopathy Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump blood effectively. Symptoms vary from none to feeling tired, leg swelling, and shortness of breath. It may also result in chest pain or fainting. Co ...

Early life

John Lee was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia on 20 October 1978. As a teenager, he appeared as

The Coachman The Coachman ( it, Il Conduttore del Carro), also known as The Little Man (''L'Omino''), is a fictional character and a major antagonist who appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (''Le avventure di Pinocchio''). In ...

in ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' at the Regal Theatre and was a choir singer in ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

'' at His Majesty's Theatre. He attended Newman College in Perth. In 1997, John Lee moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on a tennis scholarship and majored in drama at

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is a public college in Tifton, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and offers baccalaureate and associate degrees. The college is named after Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the Unite ...

Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County. The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Ag ...

, before dropping out after two quarters. He also briefly played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

for the

United States Australian Football League The United States Australian Football League (USAFL) is the governing body for Australian rules football in the United States. It was conceived in 1996 and organized in 1997. It is based in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. As of 2011, there were over 1,00 ...

(USAFL) club Atlanta Kookaburras from 2001 to 2002.

Career

Early career

John Lee moved from Tifton to Atlanta to pursue a music career, playing cover engagements. He then joined a band called Film for 18 months. After traveling to Los Angeles to showcase for a number of labels, he was signed to

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

in 2002 as a solo artist under his birth name Michael Lee. He recorded an album, and then formed a rock band called The Rising. A song from the album "Cradle" received some airplay, and the album titled ''Future Unknown'' was released in 2003. It was also released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

in 2008 after he appeared on ''American Idol.'' After Maverick, he was signed to Columbia, but was later dropped. He started using the name Michael Johns in 2006 as an homage to his stepfather whose name, like his middle name, is John, hence "Johns" because there are two of them in the family.

''American Idol''

Overview

He auditioned for the seventh season of ''

'' at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadiu ...

in July 2007. He finished in eighth place in the competition.

Performances

Post-''Idol''

As one of the seventh season finalists, Johns joined the 2008 American Idol Live! tour after the show. While he was on the ''Idol'' tour, he worked on a soundtrack for Olympic snowboarder

Shaun White Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X G ...

's documentary DVD ''Don't Look Down.'' The soundtrack was released by Three Rings Projects on 20 January 2009. Johns sang on all but one of the vocal tracks. In December 2008, he released a song he wrote in 2006, "Another Christmas." Half the proceeds from the song were advertised as being donated to the Red Cross and half to fight

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

. In April 2009, he released " Heart on My Sleeve," the lead single from ''

.'' The song debuted on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart at number 27. The album was released on 23 June 2009, and debuted at number 97 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

with 5,000 copies sold. It sold 20,000 copies as of January 2010. In 2012, he released ''Love and Sex'', a three-song EP. He also appeared briefly in a 2012 episode of ''

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' (abbreviated ''RHOBH'') is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since October 14, 2010. Developed as the sixth installment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has ...

.''

Personal life

Lee married Stacey Vuduris, in 2007.

Death

Michael John Lee, died in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city is located next to the county seat, Santa Ana, and does not include the unincorporated community ...

on August 1, 2014. On November 18, 2014, the coroner reported that Johns had died of

, which inhibited the flow of blood to his body and also caused his heart to enlarge. A

fatty liver Fatty liver disease (FLD), also known as hepatic steatosis, is a condition where excess fat builds up in the liver. Often there are no or few symptoms. Occasionally there may be tiredness or pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. Complicat ...

also contributed to his death. Johns was the first ''American Idol'' finalist to die after he appeared on the show.

Discography

Albums

Downtown Records

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Michael 1978 births 2014 deaths American Idol participants Australian expatriates in the United States Musicians from Perth, Western Australia 21st-century Australian singers 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century American musicians Deaths from hepatic steatosis Deaths from cardiomyopathy 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century Australian male singers