[3] 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.

[5][6] John Lee moved from Tifton to Atlanta to pursue a music career, playing cover engagements.

[7][8] 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.

[11] He auditioned for the seventh season of American Idol at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in July 2007.

[12][13] As one of the seventh season finalists, Johns joined the 2008 American Idol Live!

[14] While he was on the Idol tour, he worked on a soundtrack for Olympic snowboarder Shaun White's documentary DVD Don't Look Down.

[18][27] On 18 November 2014, the coroner reported that Johns had died of dilated cardiomyopathy, which inhibited the flow of blood to his body and also caused his heart to enlarge.