David Archuleta Releases New Single 'Up'

After hiding out the first half of 2023 masked as the Macaw on the hit show The Masked Singer, singer-songwriter David Archuleta has emerged and is now ready to share new music with the world.  

To celebrate his newfound confidence (and performing unmasked again), David has released his brand new single, “Up,” as well as a new lyric video.

“This song is about hitting what we feel is rock bottom in our lives and like there’s nowhere to go. You feel hopeless. The only thing to do from the bottom is get yourself off the ground and move up. It’s a song about finding the strength you didn’t know you had in you. And replacing any fear and hate with love. Especially self love.” he says.

In addition, David recently joined forces with CG5 HERE for a dazzling new single & animated music video, "IDONTUNDERSTAND.”

Listen to "Up" here:

About David Archuleta

In 2008, more than 30 million television viewers fell in love David Archuleta; with his angelic voice, bashful sweetness and megawatt smile, over 44 million votes made him the first runner-up in Season 7 of American Idol - and a star at age 16.

Shortly after “Idol,” David’s first single, “Crush,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track sold more than 2 million digital copies to become double platinum. Three months later, his self-titled album, David Archuleta, sold more than 900,000 copies worldwide.

With a faithful social media following (3.5 million Facebook followers, 1.1 million on Twitter, and almost 1 million followers on Tik Tok), David has toured all over the U.S., Canada, Asia and even in the Middle East.

In 2020, David released his 8th album, Therapy Sessions, which featured an inside look into his internal struggle with himself - a battle he has experienced for most of his life. He carried a heavy burden by trying to be something he was not, while knowing that who he really was would put him at odds with the church he grew up in.

In 2021, David came out as queer to the LGBTQ community and continues to navigate his identity. During this time, he also had vocal cord surgery, which left him unable to speak much for 3 months, resulting in a period of self-reflection.

In the summer of 2022, David then made his professional musical theater debut as “Joseph” in the acclaimed Andrew Lloyd Weber/Tim Rice musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

In the fall of 2022, David revealed to Good Morning America that he was experiencing a faith crisis and stepping away from the Church of Latter Day Saints, having been a Mormon his whole life.

2023 is shaping up to be the Year of Archuleta, not the least of which is because of his return to television. The Masked Singer saw David spread his wings (and end up a finalist) as the Macaw, a bird known for its exuberant personality. An audience favorite, David rose to the top against other heavyweight vocalists such as Pentatonix, Michael Bolton and Sara Evans.

David’s also gone ‘home’ to American Idol, where he’s a mentor to up and comers like he once was.

David’s latest single is “Up.” “I hit rock bottom. I thought I wouldn’t get through it, but here I am. I thought I was hopeless and that I’d failed, but here I am. Even when you’re at your lowest, you need to realize you can only go UP. You need to hold on to that glimmer of hope and say, I am going to turn any type of hate and negativity into positivity and love.”

“Up” will be part of a bigger project David’s working on, with a plan to record more music later this year for an album.

Photo credit: Zach Schmitt