Christian artist Danny Gokey, who first gained national attention as the third-place finalist on “American Idol” Season Eight, recently returned to the show to pay tribute to his friend and fellow AI Alum Mandisa, who passed away in April. Gokey, who is gearing up for his new release later this month, said he was honored to go back and pay tribute to his friend.

“I loved going back to honor Mandisa,” he said. “It was a tragedy, but she’s in heaven. She’s happier than ever. We miss her here on Earth, though.”

In the sixteen years since his Idol moment, Gokey has released four studios albums, multiple GRAMMY nominations, K-Love Male Vocalist of the Year awards and eight Gospel Music Dove awards that have established him as a go-to artist in contemporary Christian music.  While he credits the show for giving him national attention, he believes the glory belongs solely to God.

“The way I look at it is that American Idol was a platform that got my name to a household space,” he said. “But the dichotomy of that is I lost my record deal right after ‘Idol.’ I ended up resigning five years after ‘Idol,’ that’s when I had my first number one single my first break. So it kind of goes hand in hand. God used ‘American Idol’ to share my story, to bring hope when I was in a pretty hopeless situation, but God doesn’t want ‘American Idol’ to get all the glory.”

On July 26, the singer will deliver his newest collection of songs, “Sound of Heaven.” Three tracks, “Wannabe,” “Todo El Mundo,” “Open Up the Gates,” “I Got You” have already released, with “I Got You” climbing the charts and earning 4.5M global streams. Gokey said the album, both thematically and sonically, is intentionally diverse, showing not only different sides of himself but a glimpse of what heaven will be like.

“I think the album just represents the diverse, different sides of me,” he said. “I grew up very exposed to culture. It’s how God created me. So, making this record, I just let it all come out. I wanted there to be something for everybody. The Bible says every nation, tribe creed and tongue will worship the Lord around his throne in Revelation. So, when we get to heaven, we’re gonna see that it is really diverse. We’re gonna see the sounds are all over and how beautiful it is.”

On “Sound of Heaven,” Gokey also wanted to return to his love of worship music with three praise-inspired tracks, since that’s where his music career first began, even before his big break.

“I started in worship, and I got away from it for a little while,” he said. “So I added ‘Can’t Help But Worship’ with Naomi Raine, it’s just a beautiful song based off Isaiah six. ‘I see the Lord high and lifted up.’ When you see God in His glory, you can’t help but just fall in worship.”

On the more contemporary front, Gokey said the song “Only for a Moment” is a song about hope and healing.

“The song is like a metaphor,” he explained. “We use the idea of the seed and how there’s hope buried in the dirt. The lines says, ‘There’s hope buried in the hurt, before the bloom of the Rose was a season in the dirt.’ I love the metaphor, and it just goes deeper. Maybe something feels like it died in your life right now. But God is working everything together for your good. What looks like to be the end of something is only the beginning of something new. Trust God’s hand and trust His purpose.”

To support the album, Gokey is gearing up for a couple of tours this year, one with Tauren Wells and another with Mac Powell and Tasha Layton. He’s also welcoming some of his biggest supporters and listeners to his home for a “Livin’ La Vida Gokey Fan Event” with music, activities, and food. “It’s a lot of fun,” he said. Listeners will get to hear some of the “Sound of Heaven” songs firsthand at the event, which Gokey is excited to debut.

“My prayer is that each of these songs meet each person right where they are and help them experience the ‘sound of heaven’ in a fresh new way, in just the way they need it,” Gokey said.