David Archuleta
David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances.[5] When he was twelve years old, he became the Junior Vocal Champion on the second season of Star Search, known as "Star Search 2".[5] In 2008, he finished second on the seventh season of American Idol.[6]
This article is about the American singer. For his debut album, see David Archuleta (album).
David Archuleta
David James Archuleta
December 28, 1990[1]
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Murray, Utah, U.S.
Pop
- Singer-songwriter
- musician
- Vocals
- piano
2003–present
In August 2008, he released "Crush", the first single from his self-titled debut album.[5][7][8][9] The album, released three months later, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart; it has sold over 750,000 copies in the United States and over 900,000 worldwide.[10][11][12]
In October 2010, he released a third album, The Other Side of Down, featuring the lead single "Something 'Bout Love". In March 2012, he went on hiatus for two years to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Chile, but stated that he would continue his music career afterwards.[13][14] As of February 2012, he had sold 1,108,000 albums and 3,327,000 tracks in the United States.[15] Archuleta and his mother have both since left the LDS Church.[16][17]
In March 2012, he released his fourth album, "Forevermore", exclusively in the Philippines. This was his first Original Filipino Music (OPM) album, composed of several covers of Filipino songs. The album was certified gold in the Philippines (10,000 units) as of June 2012.[18]
His fifth album, Begin, was released in August 2012. A compilation album, No Matter How Far, was released in March 2013.[19] His sixth studio album, Postcards in the Sky, was released in October 2017[20] and his second holiday album, Winter in the Air, was released in 2018.[21] His eighth studio album, Therapy Sessions, was released in May 2020.[22]
In 2023, Archuleta competed in the ninth season of The Masked Singer as "Macaw" and finished in second place.
Early life[edit]
Archuleta was born on December 28, 1990, in Miami, to Guadalupe Mayorga, a salsa singer and dancer, and Jeff Archuleta, a jazz musician. His mother is from Honduras and his father is of Spanish, Danish, Irish, and German descent.[23] Archuleta has stated that his surname is of Basque origin.[24] He speaks fluent Spanish[25] and has four siblings.[26]
His family moved to the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah, when he was six years old. He attended Murray High School before appearing on American Idol.[27]
He began singing at the age of six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this", he said.[28] He started performing publicly at the age of 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition, singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he won the Child Division.[29]
When Archuleta was 21, he volunteered for two years as a full-time for the LDS Church and was assigned to serve in Rancagua, Chile. In June 2021, Archuleta came out as queer, and a member of the LGBTQ community. After contemplating suicide, due to being queer conflicting with his religion, Archuleta and his mother left the LDS Church.[16][30][31][32]
He is a graduate of Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Salt Lake City.[33]
Music career[edit]
2003–2006: Star Search and musical beginnings[edit]
In 2003, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search.[34][35][36] He wound up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2, losing the Junior Grand Champion title to Tiffany Evans.[37] On one episode, he competed against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who became a top 20 semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta.[35] Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13."[38]
Archuleta's competing on Star Search was preceded by an appearance on The Jenny Jones Show, meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls. He received praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson,[38][39] and the episode led to appearances on CBS's The Early Show. The year after Star Search, he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered.[28][38] He limited his singing to specific occasions, like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.[38]
Archuleta made initial attempts at songwriting and arranging music after his Star Search experience and has written at least three songs.[38] His first singles in 2002, written by his father and Sunny Hilden, were "Dream Sky High" and a song he had written by Yani Gileadi titled "Don't Tell Me".[40]
2007–2008: American Idol and David Archuleta[edit]
Archuleta received his ticket to the Hollywood auditions at the San Diego tryouts – held at Qualcomm Stadium at the end of July 2007 – with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change" with judge Randy Jackson spontaneously joining in to sing the background "waiting" in the song.[29][41] He was sixteen during the Hollywood auditions and attended school while a part of American Idol's seventh season.[6]
A parent/guardian was required to be there because he was a minor.[6] Archuleta took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Crazy", "Another Day in Paradise", and "Angels".
During the 1970s themed week Archuleta sang the John Lennon song "Imagine", omitting the earlier verses in favor of the last one. Los Angeles Times columnist Ann Powers speculated that he wanted to avoid singing "no religion too" because of his faith. "As a Mormon, he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal", she wrote.[42]
However, he did sing the entire song on "Good Things Utah" when he was 13. Asked by judge Randy Jackson why he did not sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message".[43]
After his performance of "We Can Work It Out", which judge Simon Cowell called "a mess", Entertainment Tonight reported that Archuleta was feeling pressure from his father, Jeff, who "reportedly yelled at" his son after a recording session the previous night.[44] Jeff Archuleta, in an interview with Us Weekly, denied the claim.[45][46]
A May 2008 Associated Press article reported that Jeff Archuleta had his son add a lyric from the Sean Kingston song "Beautiful Girls" into an interpretation of "Stand by Me" (from which "Beautiful Girls" samples its bass line), increasing the costs for licensing, and that this had resulted in Jeff Archuleta being banned from American Idol backstage rehearsals.[47] Archuleta defended his father, calling him "a great guy" who keeps him grounded.[48]
During the Top 7 results show, the contestants were split into two groups. In one group was Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, and Kristy Lee Cook. In the other group was David Cook, Carly Smithson, and Jason Castro. Archuleta was the only one not sorted into a group. He was declared safe after the groups were formed, then was asked to choose the group he thought was safe. He refused, and sat down on the floor of the stage, much as Melinda Doolittle had done the previous season.
In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment" and "Imagine". Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it", said Cook.[49] In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes.[50][51] During the finale show, identical commercials featuring Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook mimicked the Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business where he dances in his underwear playing an air guitar; they were promoting the game franchise Guitar Hero.[52]
Philanthropy[edit]
Along with Do Something and the Dunkin' Brands Community Foundation,[109] Archuleta is involved with helping willing teenagers make a difference in others' lives with disaster relief.[110] He was also one of several teen celebrities taking part in DoSomething.org's Teens for Jeans charity initiative, which donates denim to homeless teenagers nationwide.[111] In January 2010, Haiti was hit with a major earthquake. On January 22, 2010, Archuleta joined other celebrities for a two-hour fundraising telethon, where he answered phones and even stayed afterward to keep answering the phones.[112]
Archuleta partnered with ChildFund International for his My Kind of Christmas Tour in an effort to increase awareness and recruit new sponsors for children in need worldwide.[113] Archuleta also surprised some of ChildFund's children in their Philippines program, when he sang Bridge Over Troubled Water, and then met with the children in small groups.[114] He has also been one of the most consistent artist supporters of Invisible Children, rallying fans to donate to protection initiatives in Central Africa, and performing at events held by the organization.[115]
In January 2011, Archuleta travelled to Chennai, India, with Rising Star Outreach,[116] a non-profit charity giving children from leper colonies a first-class education and a chance at a future in India.[117]
Archuleta was one of the many Latino singers who participated in Somos El Mundo, the Spanish version of "We Are the World 25 for Haiti".[118] The song and video premiered on the Cristina Show in March 2010; funds raised benefited Haiti relief.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Archuleta participated in Billboard's Live At-Home sessions, where he performed piano versions of "OK, All Right", "Crush", and "What a Wonderful World", and released a music video for "Just Breathe" dedicated to the frontline workers; both were fundraisers for Direct Relief.[103]
Artistry[edit]
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced, including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters.[38][119] She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister.[120] He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection, as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music".[28] In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.[121]
On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cited his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams.[29] Like Elliott Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.[28] In a Seventeen interview, he cited Sara Bareilles as a clever singer-songwriter to whom he looks up.[122]
Personal life[edit]
On June 12, 2021, Archuleta posted on Twitter, "I've been open to myself and my close family for some years now that I am not sure about my own sexuality. I came out in 2014 as gay to my family. But then I had similar feelings for both genders so maybe a spectrum of bisexual."[123][124] Archuleta also discussed balancing his sexuality with his Latter-day Saint faith, stating "I don't feel comfortable sharing it, but felt I needed to bring more awareness to people in my same situation and let you know you're not alone. You can be part of the LGBTQIA+ community and still believe in God and His gospel plan."[125]
In an interview published November 2022, Archuleta described himself as queer. He said that, after he was able to accept his sexuality within his own spirituality, he spoke with church leaders about the religion's views on being queer. He said the conversations were pointless and made him feel defeated. He described his relationship with the church as "very complicated". He said that at one point he considered suicide, figuring that God would more readily forgive him for committing suicide compared to being queer. He also said that, prior to his coming out in 2021, he had an anxiety attack while on a date with his then-fiancée and called off his engagement to her soon afterwards. Archuleta said he had also been engaged to women several times previously.[126] In June 2023, Archuleta stated that he is no longer participating in the LDS Church.[127]
In an interview released in May 2023, Archuleta said he was on the asexual spectrum.[128]
Archuleta was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and completed the final requirements to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout in 2008, three days shy of his 18th birthday, while competing in American Idol, although he did not receive the award until two years later.[129]
Since 2015, Archuleta has been residing in Nashville, Tennessee.[130]