Since publicly coming out in 2021, American singer David Archuleta has slowly been rewriting not just his story, but his understanding of faith, love, and healing.
The “Crush” singer, who first rose to fame as a finalist on American Idol in 2008, has become a voice for LGBTQ+ individuals navigating religious spaces and communities.
In a recent online press conference for his latest single “Crème Brulée,” David opened up about how songwriting has become a deeply spiritual act of self-acceptance after years of finding his identity.
“I was able to show the part of me that I was always ashamed of and I used to write about being ashamed. I just never said what I was ashamed of,” David told Manila Standard Entertainment.
For most of his career, David’s lyrics were shaped by what he described as a low view of himself. He often wrote about anxiety, internal struggle, and pleas for divine guidance—songs that connected with fans but secretly revealed his struggle with his sexuality.
“And a lot of the anxiety, the stress, the looking at myself in a very low way, I would write about all the time. Some of my music, even spiritual music, was about the struggle I felt asking God to help me overcome my problem that I thought I had. And it was interesting because a lot of people would relate to it in different ways. But they didn’t know that I was talking about my sexuality,” he continued.
“I kept praying and having faith that I would be healed. Then I think I kind of just had this closing healing like, okay, it’s time to close the door of feeling ashamed,” the 34-year-old singer said.
That emotional turning point became the foundation for “Hell Together,” a 2023 single he described that marked a shift in how he approached both his music and his identity.
“I am afraid of moving forward. I am letting go of these things that were so meaningful to me all my life. But I know I need to do it. And it’s time to move on,” added David.
What followed was an awakening that surprised even him. The healing he had spent years praying for didn’t come from changing who he was—but from accepting himself fully.
“And the way of feeling healed was not in the way I expected it because I thought I needed to get rid of me. Actually, I just had to accept and love me. And that was how the healing happened,” he shared.
The journey hasn’t been easy, especially coming from a faith community that, for much of his life, taught him that being gay was something to suppress or correct. David has since stepped away from the church, though he maintains close relationships with friends who remain active in the faith.
“There’s a lot more understanding than even in the last few years,” he said, pointing to figures like Charlie Bird, the former Brigham Young University mascot who came out publicly in his book Without the Mask.
Charlie’s openness helped David realize that queerness wasn’t something shameful, but something filled with beauty, empathy, and creativity—qualities he now embraces as part of his own identity.
“For a lot of us who grew up in the church, we were told something else. But the narrative is changing. And it needs to change,” he stated.
When asked what his message to others who feel caught between faith and identity is clear, David said, “Just because you are gay, or bisexual, or trans, or queer in any way, you are a beautiful person. And I hope you can see yourself.”
“You were made, created divinely and beautifully, and you are here as you should be,” he added.
Though he now considers himself agnostic, David still remembers a moment during prayer that changed everything. He had been pleading with God to take away his feelings when a different voice came through.
“I felt that feeling I always knew as God saying, ‘Stop asking me this. You are as you’re supposed to be. And I need you to see you the way I see you’,” shared David.