Dec 23
Out Pop Star David Archuleta is 'Cleansing,' 'Shedding His Skin' Creatively
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out pop star David Archuleta says he's "shedding [his] skin," changing into something new as he works on new music – and, using a butterfly metaphor, he says that his coming out anthem "Hell Together" was a transformative "cocoon."
"I'm cleansing myself right now from where I was," the 33-year-old "American Idol" alum told People magazine.
"It was a good place where I was," the "Crush" singer went on to add, "but I feel like it's like a metamorphosis, you're shedding your skin. That was my caterpillar stage, and it's now time to bloom.
"And I feel like 'Hell Together' was kind of like my cocoon, where it's changing, and now it's like, 'Hey, this was my old skin and it's time to take it off,'" Archuleta added, referring to his single from earlier this year.
The single famously recalls how Archuleta's mother responded when the Mormon-raised singer came out of the closet and then left that faith.
As Entertainment Weekly relayed last summer after the single dropped, "when he told his mom the truth about himself and that he was stepping away from their religion, she said she'd rather go to hell with him than remain in a church that wouldn't have him."
Archuleta expressed the hope that the inspiring single could model authentic family values, telling ABC Audio that he hopes other parents will see his mother's example of parental love as a model to follow and saying that the song "can help other people have a different perspective and different attitude towards how they view their queer kids."
Added the musical artist: "For my mom to say, 'Well, if you're going to hell, then we're going to hell together' is just a really special thing. It's, like, heavy emotions, but I feel like they're good emotions."
The singer "gave a hint about the direction of his forthcoming album," People relayed, with him revealing that "he's going to 'channel the pop girlies, channel a little bit of my Latin roots as well.'"
Archuleta hasn't just been shedding his skin in the recording studio; he's also been showing a little skin at his Insta. Check out some of his thirst-inspiring posts below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
