'American Idol' Alum Michael Johns' Cause of Death Revealed

"American Idol" alum Michael Johns died in Tustin, California on 1 August 2014, reportedly due to a blood clot that developed in a sprained ankle. An autopsy was performed on Johns's body, the result says that Johns died of an enlarged heart and a fatty liver.  Since a fatty liver could be the cause of excessive alcohol consumption, a friend claimed that drinking was the cause of death.

His remains were subsequently cremated. The Orange County Coroner's report concludes that Johns died of dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that inhibited the flow of blood to his body and caused his heart to enlarge.

Johns competed on the Fox music show "American Idol" in 2008 and finished in eighth place. He followed with a full-length album, 2009's "Hold Back My Heart," which included the single "Heart on My Sleeve." 

John Lee was born in Perth, Western Australia on 20 October 1978. As a teenager, he appeared as The Coachman in Pinocchio at the Regal Theatre and was a choir singer in Anything Goes at His Majesty's Theatre. He attended Newman College in Perth. In 1997, John Lee moved to the United States on a tennis scholarship and majored in drama at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, before dropping out after two quarters. He also briefly played Australian rules football for the United States Australian Football League (USAFL) club Atlanta Kookaburras from 2001 to 2002.

John Lee moved from Tifton to Atlanta to pursue a music career, playing cover engagements. He then joined a band called Film for 18 months. After traveling to Los Angeles to showcase for a number of labels, he was signed to Maverick Records in 2002 as a solo artist under his birth name Michael Lee. He recorded an album, and then formed a rock band called The Rising.

A song from the album "Cradle" received some airplay, and the album titled Future Unknown was released in 2003. It was also released on iTunes in 2008 after he appeared on an American television show, American Idol. After Maverick, he was signed to Columbia, but was later dropped. He started using the name Michael Johns in 2006 as an homage to his stepfather whose name, like his middle name, is John, hence "Johns" because there are two of them in the family. 

 

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