Josiah Leming’s Mother Succumbs to Cancer

By On 06/17/2009 · 22 Comments · In Uncategorized

Update: Announcement in the Leming’s hometown newspaper HERE.

Sharon Leming, the mother of Season 7 contestant, Josiah Leming, passed away from cancer Tuesday afternoon.

You might remember Josiah from his Season 7 audition and the Hollywood rounds.   He broke down on camera when just missed the cut to Top 24.

His quirky take on Mika’s “Grace Kelly” caught the attention of Idol fans, as did his backstory–he’d been living out of his car prior to his Idol audition.

A detail not included in his Idol backstory–his mother was fighting a nearly decade long struggle with ovarian leiomyosarcoma, a very rare from of the disease.   She chronicled her struggle on her blog   here.

On Sharon’s blog, a friend of the family posted that she’d been   admitted to ICU.   Hours later the news of Sharon’s passing was posted in comments, where fans have been posting condolences.

Since his Idol run, Josiah was signed to Warner Brothers and has been shuffling between the US and London, recording his debut album.

When I have more information on Sharon’s passing, I’ll update this post.

Sending out thoughts and prayers to Josiah and his family at this sad time…

 
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  • revcat

    I remember him & wondered what happened to him. He was a pretty emotional guy, but had some talent. I didn’t know anything about his mother, but she sounds courageous.

  • washpd

    My thoughts go out to Josiah and all of the loved ones of Sharon Leming.

    (Josiah’s “Grace Kelly” is one of my all-time favorite Idol performances. What a talented kid.)

  • oceana

    I’m very sorry to hear this. My condolences and sympathy go out to Josiah. Hes’ a very talented guy and we’ll probably hear more from him in the future.

  • sonyab

    Oh no! :( I had no idea she was sick. :( Josiah was one of my favorites that season. :( I’m so sorry Josiah. :(

  • abbysee

    I adore Josiah, he’s a talented young man. My thoughts go out to him, and his family. Poor kid.

  • leome

    Oh, that’s sad.
    I remember reading about it when his EP was out, that he wanted to released his album while his mother was with him.

    My thoughts are with the family.

  • HannaB4

    How sad for him and his family. She did get to see Josiah release his EP (which I love, btw) and start fulfilling his dreams, which had to give her some peace. :(

  • Squirrely

    I don’t know much about him, but my condolences to him and his family.

  • hardkandy

    Condolences to him… and his entire family. He is a talented guy and his Angels Undercover EP is excellent… and I wish him the best in his music career and life.

  • mac

    It is so sad to hear about the losses a lot of the AI contestants go through (David Cook’s brother, Elliott’s adorable Mom, and now Josiah’s poor Mom). Even though we don’t know them, it seems like we do. My prayers go out to all of them and especially now Josiah. I agree with HannaB4, at least glad she got to see her son’s dreams come true. I really like Josiah’s music.

  • gingerly

    Very sad. My thoghts and prayers go out to Josiah, his family and their friends.

  • tinawina

    Wow, that’s rough. My condolences to the Leming family.

  • sma11ie

    Oh man… that’s heartbreaking. I didn’t know his mom had a blog. Thanks for the post, MJ. I don’t know much about Josiah, but was always intrigued by his talent. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

  • idol09

    Thoughts and prayers sent to Josiah and family… May she rest in peace.

  • HappyDaisy

    With sympathy for Josiah and his family during this very sad time.

    Wishing the best for Josiah’s music career and will be interested in learning more about his debut album.

  • taran33

    How sad. Thoughts and prayers go out to Josiah and his family.

  • BootStar

    So sorry to hear this. I was just listening to Josiah’s “Angels Undercover” the other day and was wondering how his mom was. : (

    What’s the story with his album, mj? Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin mentioned in that article you posted yesterday that he had been writing with Josiah, but is that full album every going to come out?

  • HappyDaisy

    BootStar, I found this short article about Josiah, from April 2009. Sounds like they were still thinking things through on what to put on the album:

    http://www.knoxville.com/news/2009/apr/02/morristowns-idol-ist-josiah-leming-gets-l-groove/

  • smartcookie

    I actually emailed Josiah’s mother when I saw her blog (when he was on the show) and I read that she had leiomyosarcoma because I know someone else with the disease. It’s such a rare (and terrible) kind of cancer. My friend is still here, five years after her diagnosis, which is a miracle since the prognosis is about 10% survival in three years. And because it’s so rare, there isn’t much research done in that area, either. So awful. Condolences to Josiah and his family. She seemed like a lovely person when she wrote back to me after I emailed her, and she went through a lot when people thought Josiah was living in his car and called her a terrible mother, yaddayadda.

  • BootStar

    Thanks for that link, HappyDaisy! Sounds like he has his head on pretty straight.

  • s0x_prisoner

    Oh no!! Josiah’s one of my favorites from all 8 seasons of Idol, and I remember that she used to post on VFTW sometimes… she seemed like a really cool woman. So sad :(

  • daenarys

    Losing a parent is so hard. I feel for the guy. I hope his record deal works out – from the few songs I’ve heard, he definitely has a unique sound.