Gokey's life since 'Idol' days mixes music and charity

Danny Gokey had the desire to sing. But it was his wife, Sophia, who encouraged him to pursue his dream.

She was a fan of the reality music show “American Idol.” And after watching it with her for one season, Gokey decided to take a chance. What he didn’t know was how much his life would change before and after auditioning and appearing on the popular television show.

A month before the Milwaukee native auditioned, Sophia died during heart surgery. The two were high school sweethearts. Despite the pain of his loss, Gokey decided to go ahead and audition, making it on the show. The experience not only brought him fame but helped him heal.

Today, Sophia is never far from his mind and his life has taken a very different path from his days as a truck driver and church music director.

Gokey finished third in season eight of “American Idol” and has since launched a country music career, releasing his first album, “My Best Days,” in 2010. He’s currently working on his second album, which is expected to be out this year. The musician, who will go on tour with Taylor Swift later this month, will perform in Dothan on May 12. The concert is a fundraiser for the Cultural Arts Center in Dothan.

Charity is a big part of Gokey’s life.

And just as “American Idol” gave him hope and a second chance, Gokey strives to provide the same to those who need it most.

“It’s a passion,” he said in a phone interview with the Dothan Eagle. “I developed a passion for this while growing up in the church … I know what it’s like to be rock bottom and have people come and give me a helping hand.”

He established the Sophia’s Heart Foundation in memory of his late wife. The organization helps families by providing GED tutoring and life skills programs, including financial education and job search training. Located in a donated 77,000-square-foot facility in Nashville, Tenn., the nonprofit organization also offers after-school music and arts programs for children. Those programs include contemporary dance, audio and video recording, engineering classes, fashion design and choir. During last year’s Nashville flood, the organization was able to assist as many as 450 homeless families with medical needs, emergency relief and supplies. The current facility, donated when a temporary location could no longer be used, took in its first homeless family in January.

The arts programs provide hope to youth served by Sophia’s Heart, Gokey said. He knows from his own experience the difference music and the arts can make. “American Idol,” he said, is basically a high-profile, and influential, art program.

“It brought me hope in the most hopeless time of my life,” Gokey said.

Gokey said he’s always had a strong desire to help others – it’s what he believes the church should be all about. Before “American Idol,” Gokey worked as a truck driver and the music director at two different churches. Now, he said, he has the means and the ability to truly make a difference in the lives of others.

His wife’s death, Gokey said, had both an external and internal impact on him. Externally, he’s doing everything he can to help others. Internally, he approaches life differently.

“It affected the way I look at life, affected the way I appreciate life,” he said. “I love more freely, not taking things for granted and being a little more thankful.”