Luke Menard has a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, as he is now cancer-free and feeling better than he has in years. Just after his stint on American Idol this past season, Luke went and had some tests run due to a persistent cough and a very tight feeling in his chest. Although he is faithful about working out, Luke said he was suddenly winded while walking from his house to the car. After years of being told he had allergies, the doctor ran some scans, and it was discovered that Luke had Hodgkin lymphoma. Having received twelve rounds of chemotherapy, there are no cancerous cells detected in Luke’s body. Unfortunately, the hard part isn’t necessarily over, as he is now set to receive radiation treatments once a day, five times a week, for the next month as a preventative measure.
While most people in the midst of chemotherapy treatments would probably slow down, this was not the case for Luke. Wanting to strike while the AI iron was hot, Luke drove to Nashville in between chemo treatments to begin working on a solo album in the Christian Contemporary genre. While his family thought he was crazy for doing this, Luke’s doctor gave him the “all clear” for the Nashville trips, and so Luke continued to do so until he recorded about half of an album. Toward the end of the treatments, it simply became too difficult to manage. However, Luke is not deterred. In fact, he is hoping to move to Nashville in January or February in order to shop the album around to several labels. Interestingly enough, he worked with season six’s Chris Sligh, as Chris is enjoying success in the Christian music realm himself. Luke says the album is very piano-driven and has a kind of a “British pop” feel to it.
As if his solo work wasn’t impressive enough, Luke also managed to help his a capella band, Chapter 6, complete their latest album. He is doing some touring with them in the next few weeks for their Christmas shows. His long term future with the band is uncertain, however, as Luke really wants to focus on his solo album. He is also taking advantage of his free time right now to travel with his wife of four years, Lara, who is doing her tour of Christmas shows as a member of the famous Rockettes. For six years, with both of them touring, they lived to meet up in the middle in between shows.
Besides the obvious thrill that comes with being told he is cancer-free, Luke is ecstatic to have full use of his lungs. When he was first diagnosed, the fluid was being compressed in his right lung so much; the doctor said he was basically living off the use of one lung. He is now able to breathe deeply again, which is great for exercising as well as performing.
It’s safe to say that it has been a bittersweet year for Luke, as he loved being on American Idol. He said that he was in awe of the professionalism of the musicians and everyone behind the scenes on the show, and that it definitely helped him to grow as a performer. He still keeps in touch with quite a few people from AI, and even got together with the Top 10 while they toured in Indianapolis near Luke’s home. While he was at the show, each of the Top 10 Idols signed a guitar, and it was then auctioned off to help Luke pay for his mounting medical bills.
Of course, it was next to impossible to interview Luke Menard without asking him if he had heard the buzz surrounding the many celebs people thought he resembled. He laughed and said that he not only heard about it, but there was some mention of it in every email that he received while on the show. Who were some of the Luke doppelgangers? He heard everything from Luke Perry to Patrick Dempsey to Orlando Bloom, with Ryan Seacrest even calling him “Dawson’s Creek” in reference to his resemblance to James Van Der Beek. Luke took it all in stride, of course, but what confused him is how he could look like so many different people! Good looks aside, Luke most certainly has a renewed outlook on life these days.
Luke sent us some great photos of him and some Idol friends! Check them out now.
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