It would seem that Jeremy Rosado was born with a song in his soul.
The 2012 American Idol contestant knew he wanted to be a singer by the time he was three-years-old. His family encouraged his dream, which led him to audition for the popular talent show.
“I was always the kid that had a fake microphone in his hand,” he recalled. “My parents were just so great to pour into that and help me navigate what it meant to be a singer.”
His powerful voice captivated judges Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, earning him a golden ticket and a top 13 finish for the season. With his high-ranking performance on a national singing competition in his early 20s, it would have been natural to launch headlong into a full-time music career.
The Lord, however, had other plans for Rosado.
When he was 13, he and his mother began caring for his then-2-year-old niece, Jocelyn (Jocie). His sister had given birth to Jocie, but struggled with addiction and became unable to care for her.
“I learned how to be a dad super young,” Rosado said. “I promised God I would take care of this little girl for the rest of my life. It was nothing to do with me. It was all Him.”
Following his stint on Idol, Rosado said he felt the Holy Spirit nudging him to become Jocie’s dad. He was 22 years-old and Jocie was 11 at the time.
“It kinda came to a point where I had to make a decision. I felt like I needed to take that responsibility and so I got Jocelyn full time at that point, and I became a dad,” he said.
He became Jocie’s legal guardian and put all his time and energy into raising her to be a godly young woman. Now at 30, Rosado’s 19-year-old daughter is a high school graduate furthering her education in college.
“She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’d do it all again,” Rosado said.
This little girl put her mark on his life.
“I learned full reliance on God, more than I ever have before,” he said. “Something happens when you become a parent. It’s like a piece of you is living in another human being.”
He notes how faithful God has been in their story, and that he learned how to be a good dad by following Christ’s example.
“He fathered me so I could father this little girl. It’s definitely the Lord walking hand in hand with me and teaching me,” he said.
Rosado had given up his dream of being a singer, and said it felt like it wasn’t even a possibility. He committed his time to serving in his church’s worship band.
In 2020, to his surprise, the door that had closed on his singing career began to open.
He auditioned for the Voice and was asked to audition for the 20th season, but he ended up being cut before his blind audition.
In what Rosado said could only be a God-thing, the show contacted him in 2021 before auditions began for the 21st season, asking him to do the blind audition in front of the judges.
“He’s an all-of-a-sudden God sometimes,” the singer-dad said. “Just in an instant, anything can change. I knew that God was doing something. I could worship Him on national television… [and] impact 10 million people at a time and share the love of Jesus.”
His audition was an R&B rendition of Rascal Flatts’ song, “Here Comes Goodbye,” leading judges Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson to turn their chairs and recruit Rosado to their team. Rosado opted to join Team Kelly.
“I had given up on the dream completely, and all of a sudden God just began to shift things around and gave me favor that didn’t make sense,” he said.
Rosado finished in the top 10 and left no doubt that his dream was coming true. And it didn’t stop there. Earlier this year, he signed with Capitol Christian Music Group and will be touring with the Newsboys this fall.
“It feels so surreal,” he said. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little boy.”
Like Rosado was there for Jocie as she grew up, Jocie has been there for him during his music journey, telling him, “You belong here.”
“She’s fully supporting me. She knows God did this for us, and how this was so supernaturally planned by God. She’s not shocked by any of it, actually I think she believes it more than I do sometimes,” he said.
Rosado’s mom and Jocie were able to be with him the day he signed his contract with Capitol Christian, and he emotionally spoke about how grateful he is for this journey God has brought him on.
“God is so good,” he said. “It’s just so crazy to me that He actually loves me that much to be this intentional, to redeem every bit of this story of mine. I’m just living in gratitude. I’m so thankful; she is too.”
Bailey Duran is a writer and producer for Focus on the Family’s Radio Hall of Fame-winning daily broadcast.
