Ledger Pop Journal - Celebrity News & Sports

Danny Gokey, a top 12 finalist on this season's American idol overcame the tragic loss of his wife to go after his dream. A report from In Touch explores some of the background of the rising star and in a report reveals that Sophia Gokey loved all kinds of music, and though her husband, Danny, thought it was weird, she was fan of American Idol's Taylor Hicks, because the season five winner reminded her of Danny.

American Idol Finalist Danny Gokey: "I Really Wanted to Die"

"She was spunky and so cute," the story quotes Danny on the love of his life, who tragically died at age 27 just months before her husband was voted into the top 12 of season eight. Last year, Danny consulted his pastor about auditioning for Idol. "Sophia was 100 percent behind it," Jeffrey Pruitt of Faith Builders International Ministries Church in Milwaukee, Wis., tells In Touch in the published item.


“We had no idea that she was going to pass away about a month after that.” Sophia’s death, on July 9, 2008, from a third operation for a congenital heart problem, came as an enormous shock. “I really wanted to die,” admits Danny.

Danny was in despair as the audition loomed. “He said, ‘I don’t have it in me,’” says Pruitt. “I wanted him to get some hope, anything other than just thinking about this every single day, so I encouraged him to go.” He easily snagged a golden ticket in Kansas City, but in Hollywood, the “bitterness” he felt weighed heavily on him. “I was miserable,” says Danny, who finally let go of the negativity, but not Sophia. “She is a part of who I am,” he tells In Touch. “She’s be so happy.”