ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Back in 2008, 16-year-old David Archuleta was the runner-up on the seventh season of "American Idol," and released his gold, chart-topping debut album with its teen-struggle-with-love hit single "Crush."
It was Archuleta's last charting single.
He later had moderate success with his sophomore album "The Other Side of Down," a Christmas album and some holiday tours, but his "Idol" popularity waned.
A strict adherent to the Mormon Church, he stepped away from fame and served a two-year mission in Chile.
Now Archuleta, 33 and half his life past "Idol," is back.
This year, he's released two far-more-mature singles, "Hell Together" and "Rather Be Lonely," that also are self-examining — as he also deals with big changes in his life.
And at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, he will open for hit a cappella group Pentatonix at Allentown Fair's grandstand.
Tickets, at $72-$92, remain available at the fair website.
Perhaps the biggest change in Archuleta's life is that nearly two years ago, he came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
"She said, ‘I don’t want to be somewhere where my children don’t feel loved and welcome. If you’re going to hell, then we’re all going to hell with you.’"Singer David Archuleta, quoting his mother
The new singles tell of his journey, and struggles, Archuleta said in a phone call from Los Angeles, where he lives.
“‘Hell Together’ is a song that was inspired by my mom," he said. "I came out two years ago and I let my mom know, ‘Hey, I’m going to start dating guys now.’
"And she just said, ‘I love you, honey, but I love God more and I can’t accept this about you.’
“And I said, ‘Mom, I understand that — I know that … I believed it up until a week ago, until I started feeling really crummy about myself, even suicidal.
"So I felt like, ‘I don’t need you to accept what I’m doing — I just want you to respect that I’m making the best decision for me right now.’
“And she was willing to do that. And she thought I would come around. She thought, ‘He just needs to get it out of his system,’ like, ‘He can change back to being straight.’"
Archuleta said he decided to leave his church and didn’t hear from his mom for a few days.
"And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I pissed my mom off.’ But then she texted me. She said, ‘I’ve decided to step away from the church,’ And I just thought, ‘What?’" he said with a laugh.
“And I said, ‘Mom, you don’t have to do that.’ And she said, ‘I don’t want to be somewhere where my children don’t feel loved and welcome. If you’re going to hell, then we’re all going to hell with you.’
"I was, like, really touched, but I was, like, ‘I need to write a song about that,’" he said, laughing again.
“So I did and that’s how it came together.”
Understanding himself
Archuleta's most recent single, "Rather Be Lonely," released July 19, explores his own feelings.
It's a devastating song, about choosing to walk away from someone who's not willing to accept you totally.
“The inspiration … is the frustration of not being good enough for someone, the wounds," Archuleta said.
"You find someone who you think is great and is a wonderful person, treats you well, but you’re not able to receive that love. It brings too much out of you, like it brings the worst out in you and it’s supposed to be something good.
"And it’s just, like, ‘This is too much, I’d rather just be lonely.’”
Archuleta concedes it's a heartbreaking song.
“Yeah, it is, it’s a little rougher," he said. "I feel sometimes you see ups and downs and it was kind what I was feeling at the time, I guess.
"I feel it’s good — I’m in a different place now. But you have the highs and lows of life. And I was feeling a little more vulnerable and I wanted to get it out. And it’s therapeutic to do that.”
Such therapy, through his music and other means, has helped bring him self-realization, Archuleta said.
He said he left the church because “I didn’t feel there was that openness to understand where I was coming from and why I made the decision I did — the fact why I was who I was," he said.
"It wasn’t just a decision — this is who I’ve always been, and I just need to accept that.
“And the fact that it’s not a bad thing," he said with a laugh. "Like, it’s this great and beautiful thing I can accept and embrace about myself now."
Archuleta said he even, for the first time, understands when people talk about love.
"Like, ‘Oh, yeah, I get it now,'" he said. "I get why all those love songs are written. Even my song ‘Crush,’ it was, like, everyone related so much to it — ‘It reminded me of when I met my girlfriend or boyfriend.’
"And I was, like, ‘Oh.’ I really couldn’t understand those feelings. But now I can. It was just, like, ‘Oh, as a 30-year-old I was finally understanding.' "
Album in the works — and memoir
Archuleta said his new songs come as he's working on a new album, his first since 2020's "Therapy Sessions."
"I have songs in the works lined up for release, just waiting to get the proper launch for it," he said.
"Because I’ve released songs in the past without a setup and a team, and it doesn’t really get as much exposure that way.
“So I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to try and do this right and really take a stab at it. I want to have a chance to come back into music all full in.”
“I have a lot to say now."Singer David Archuleta
He said he still loves his hit song “Crush,” and says some of the new music may return to that feel — “Crush 2.0,” he said.
Archuleta said he also has a memoir in the works.
“I wrote one when I was younger, but it really didn’t make sense to write it then," he said. "I had not figured myself out — it was, ‘Oh, you were on ‘American Idol,’ write a book.' I was, like, ‘I don’t know what I want to say.’
“I have a lot to say now," he said with a laugh. "About the ‘American Idol' experience, about coming out, about how I came to terms with being a very religious, very Mormon — very Mormon, you know? I was all in with my religion before.
“So I talk about that process, too, of how to make my family understand where I was coming from, and how to have other people in my church understand where I was coming from.
“I would like to have made more progress, but hopefully I can continue the conversation so that people who have a lot of misconceptions about being part of LGBTQ+ community can see it in a different light and can understand why a lot of people come out."
'Give that in return'
When it's pointed out to Archuleta that "American Idol" now is more than half his life ago, he concedes:
“Oh my God, yeah," he said. "It does feel like half my lifetime ago. I’ve done so much since then."
Asked his thoughts on "Idol," he said, “I think it’s an amazing place for people to get their start, and to be seen and it’s helped me have the platform I have today."
"Wherever I am, whether it’s in my career or on the show, or with my fans opening for Pentatonix, what is to come in 2025, I feel I always work hard and give my best. And I think life will help give that in return."Singer David Archuleta
He said people at his shows still talk to him about his time on the show.
“The doesn’t mean I necessarily have to love the way that I was always treated on the show," he said. "Some of the higher-up people on the show. ... So I don’t want to give those particular individuals power over my life by saying I owe everything to that show.
“‘Cause I don’t. I am who I am. I was on that show, I feel like, because of who I was, and because of what I had to offer as a singer, and they felt it was something that would really benefit those people who watch the show. And I’m glad it did.
“And so I feel like regardless, wherever I am, whether it’s in my career or on the show, or with my fans opening for Pentatonix, what is to come in 2025, I feel I always work hard and give my best. And I think life will help give that in return."
