Where in the World is Joshua Ledet?

Where in the World is Joshua Ledet?

By Erin Evans

Contributing Writer

In the spring of 2012, a parish, typically divided by political differences, had a reason to finally come together as one: to support Joshua Ledet on the American Idol. Business, churches, and schools had plastered their signs with messages of support for the local singer. Everyone gathered around their TVs on Tuesdays to see him perform and on Wednesdays to ensure that he made it through to the next week. It was such an exciting time in Southwest Louisiana, watching the local golden child ascend all the way to the top. 

A collage of Josh Ledet sightings

As we’re all aware now, Ledet was eliminated the week that American Idol does their hometown parade and concert. He had ended the season eleven competition in third place. Not bad, considering thousands across the country auditioned to appear on the show. Besides, we all know that in American Idol Land that the runners up have more success than the winners. (See: Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, and Chris Daughtry) After fifteen standing ovations from the Idol judges, our hometown hero had a bright future ahead of him. 

Did the fame change him? Is he still our hometown hero?

As we’re settling into the thirteenth season of the popular singing reality show, one can’t help but wonder what Joshua Ledet is up to these days.  On August 26, 2013, Ledet released an original song called “Here to Die” on YouTube.  Rolling Stone gave a rave review and urged record labels to give it a commercial release.  It seemed as if Ledet was on track to record and release his debut album.

The Contraband reached out to Mr. Ledet for an interview via Twitter, text, and a traditional phone call to find out any possible albums, tours, his experiences on Idol, and advice for those wanting to audition for the show. When we reached out to Josh on Twitter, we didn’t get any response. This is understandable. He has (at the time of this article) 126,233 followers.  It’s easy for one tweet about wanting an interview to get swallowed up among all of the “OMG! @joshledet IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD 2 ME IF U FOLLOW ME BACK!!!”

Another reporter managed to track down Josh’s phone number.  We called but received no answer.  A polite voicemail was left on his phone. Several minutes later, a text message was received from the number, “Did someone call me”. A response text was sent out repeating the information left on the voicemail. Yet again, we received no response.

Maybe the fame has changed Ledet. At my old job at Hot Topic, I witnessed an awkward situation involving Ledet and a co-worker of mine. Ledet was shopping at the store and made a purchase. He paid with his credit card. The policy at Hot Topic is that if you purchase something with a credit card, you must show your ID to verify that you are the owner of the credit card. My co-worker had no idea who Ledet was. He asked Ledet to see his ID to verify that the credit card was genuine.

Incredulously, Ledet looked at my co-worker and asked, “Don’t you know who I am?”  My co-worker was completely oblivious to Ledet’s status, as he had never seen an episode of American Idol before. He honestly answered Ledet, “No, dude. Sorry. I still need to see your ID.” Ledet, sadly, handed over his ID to my co-worker. It was such a painful interaction to witness.

Has the fame changed Ledet? If we hear from him, we’ll let you know.