Published: March 15, 2007 08:41 am      

‘Idol’ singer has local ties

When Phil Stacey takes thWhen Phil Stacey took the American Idol stage Tuesday night on the Fox Television Network, he had lots of relatives in Madison County cheering, voting and praying for him.

When the votes were announced live Wednesday night, Stacey was in the bottom three of the Top 12 contestants, but was first of the three to be told he would be returning next week for another chance at the title. Brandon Rogers, a former backup singer who forgot the words to his song while performing, received the lowest number of votes and was voted off the show.

Viewers vote for their favorite performer via phone calls or text messages to the program. About 28 million calls and text message votes were received Tuesday night.

Stacey, who auditioned for “American Idol” while his wife was in labor with their second child, is the grandson of Myrtle Horn of Waco. His grandfather, the late Carlie Horn, was pastor of the Berea Church of God on Richmond Road for eight years.

“I voted for Phil about 250 times Tuesday night,” his grandmother said.

“We want him to do as well as he can,” she said. “We’re praying, not for him to win, but for God’s will to be done.”

While Stacey never lived in Madison County, he has visited his mother’s home county often, said his aunt Darlene Cornett of Waco. “His parents would come with their children for our family reunions every summer.”

Phil and his wife, Kendra, who he met in Wichita, Kan., while his father was a pastor there, were married in Berea by his grandfather. The couple resides in Jacksonville, Fla. They have two daughters.

Phil was born in Harlan County but spent most of his childhood in Fairfield, Ohio. His father is a Church of God minister and the family moved several times as he grew up. He graduated high school in Wichita.

Phil’s parents, Gary and Adrell Stacey, now live in Hendersonville, Tenn., where his father pastors a church.

In addition to Phil’s mother, Carlie and Myrtle Horn had nine children, eight of whom survive.

In addition to Phil’s aunt Darlene, three other Horn sisters — Linda Tolle, Lauavadia Moses and Irene Smith — live in Madison County. Two brothers, Francis and Timmy Horn, also live here. Another brother, Wayne, lives in Cynthiana.

His aunt, Jane Horn, who works at Tolle Gallery in Berea, said she baby-sat Phil when he was child. “He had a full head of beautiful, black hair,” she said. He sports a shaved head now.

“He was a special child who grew up to be a good Christian boy,” Jane Horn said. “He deserves every good thing that has happened to him.”

In an interview posted on American Idol’s Web site, Phil said his parents got him started singing in church. He attended the Church of God’s Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music.

Singing before audiences large and small is nothing new to Phil.

“He was a leader of the Lee University Singers and traveled around the country representing the school,” his aunt Darlene said.

Once, while performing in front of 25,000 people in Knoxville’s Thompson-Bowling Arena, Phil forgot the words of a song, he said in his Web site interview. “I hope that doesn’t happen on American Idol.”

The 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington occurred while Phil was in college, and a sense of patriotic duty led him to join the U.S. Navy after graduating, Cornett said.

Much of Phil’s military service has been in the form of musical performances. “He’s sung with several U.S. Navy bands,” she said.

The Navy, along with many friends and family members, encouraged Phil to try out for American Idol. “He’s 29, and the age limit for American Idol contestants is 30,” Cornett said. “If he was going to do it, this was the year. His family is very proud of how far he has gone.”

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.