Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon has continuously wowed the American Idol judges week after week, and his impressive vocals and musical ability have helped him land a spot in the Top 14. Along with being an incredible singer, Jeremiah has also been extremely open and transparent about his upbringing and difficulties he’s faced throughout his life, which have made people fall in love with him even more. It’s obvious that Jeremiah is a frontrunner to win the entire competition, and we’ve rounded up more things you need to know about him:
1. He’s openly gay. Jeremiah is the son of a pastor and grew up in a religious family, so it was not easy for him to come out to his parents. His family was not totally accepting of him when he told them he was gay, and it’s something he’s struggled with since. However, he explained in an interview with Out magazine that he’s not completely estranged from the family, as the show makes it seem. “I’ve never said that my parents have rejected me or don’t accept me as me, their son,” he said. “It’s not like they totally outcasted me. It’s just…I was living with my parents, and our differences caused me to decide to make an alternative living situation for myself. At the heart of it, we have our differences, but we still love each other no matter what.”
2. He has a boyfriend. Jeremiah has been dating his boyfriend John for more than a year, and John has been supporting him throughout his American Idol journey. When Jeremiah’s family couldn’t make many of his performances at the beginning of the show, John was there. The two met when they walked by each other at the YMCA in Kingsville, Maryland, and Jeremiah realized he recognized John from matching with him on Tinder a year prior. He wound up boldly approaching John with his phone number, and they went out to dinner that night. They’ve been together ever since!
3. He was working as a janitor before ‘Idol.’ Jeremiah was mopping the floors in his father’s church before he came to audition on American Idol.
4. How did he get started in music? When Jeremiah first began writing music, he performed at the Lynchstock Music Festival in Lynchburg, Virginia, for three consecutive years. He wound up releasing a self-titled EP under a Virginia record label called Harding Street Assembly Lab. Ahead of his Idol audition, he released a single called “Learn to Love.”
5. He’s put his education on hold. Jeremiah enrolled at Liberty University in Virginia and dropped out three times before finally enrolling at Towson University. He was expected to graduate in spring 2019, but clearly, he’s had to put that on hold for Idol. Just days into the spring semester, which began in January, Jeremiah made the decision to hold on schooling to focus on his music career and the show.