David Archuleta chats with THR at the iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet and shares what it was like to hear his 2008 song "Crush" on the radio for the first time. Plus, he talks about his new music, saying he's in his "flirty era," coming out and more.
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00:00We're here at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. What do you remember about the first time you heard yourself on the radio?
00:05Oh my god. I think the first time I heard myself on the radio was actually
00:11like when I went into the radio station and they played my song Crush,
00:16which was my first single I ever released. They played it in New York, Z100, and they're in the studio and I just couldn't believe it.
00:22I was like, what is going on? It was wild. And then I think the next time I heard myself on the radio,
00:28I was like home in Utah just with my friends and then the song came on.
00:32I was like, what? I just randomly come up on the radio. This is crazy. But so it's fun.
00:40You've had an amazing journey and now you have new music coming out. What can you tell us about it?
00:45Yeah, oh my gosh. Yeah, I feel like it's David Archuleta 2.0.
00:49I'm in my flirty era, like just owning my sensuality and being confident in my body.
00:54And a little bit of Spanglish in this song. It comes out Friday.
00:58It's called Creme Brulee. And I hope people just feel like they can be confident with themselves,
01:04too, as they listen to it and just enjoy vibing out to it.
01:08Since we are here at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, who's somebody you're excited to see here tonight?
01:12Well, I love my girl Billie, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Mariah Carey is getting the Icon Award.
01:20Lady Gaga is being honored, too. I think all of them are going to be really sick to see.
01:24And you recently released a cover of Freedom by George Michael, correct?
01:27Yeah, yeah. What made you want to cover that song?
01:30Well, George Michael, like he was exposed with his sexuality being a gay man 35 plus years ago.
01:40And he didn't have a chance to like process that, like he was just outed.
01:45So he just owned it. He's like, yeah, now, you know, and this is who I am.
01:49And I'm going to just and he just took himself to another level.
01:54Like I felt like he like liberated not just himself, but a whole generation of the LGBT community.
02:01And it's impacting people like me today who I just came out a few years ago.
02:06And it was hard to feel comfortable and OK with myself.
02:10And so like I was like, I'm a channel some George Michael and just give myself freedom.
02:15And it's worked. It's really helped me out.
02:18And now I'm entering my crème brûlée era and excited for it.
02:22How do you hope your journey inspires LGBTQ plus youth?
02:26I mean, there's I feel like I hope that they see like in spite of what everyone be saying right now,
02:33because LGBT community has been used a lot as like political ammunition.
02:38And, you know, we're not trying to you know, a lot of it's just fear mongering.
02:43There's a lot of beautiful, great people in the LGBT community.
02:47And we're just living our lives just like anybody else.
02:52Maybe who we fall in love with or end up in a relationship with looks a little different,
02:57but there's not too much else different.
02:59We have a beautiful, creative community that contributes so much to the entertainment,
03:05music, acting, dance, art. And so let yourself be you.
03:11And and if they say like, oh, that's gay or something like I would be self-conscious.
03:19And now I'd be like, you know, and that's on period gay and that's on period.
03:23And I'm queer and I'm here and I'm loving it.
03:26I've never when I've embraced that about me.
03:29I never felt so like excited to live, you know, so I hope that you be excited to be you.
03:38There's a lot of wonderful things to celebrate being queer.
03:41That's an amazing message. And we're so excited to hear your new music.
03:44I want to ask you. So last summer was Bratz summer.
03:47What kind of vibes are we manifesting for this summer? Is it going to be a creme brulee summer?
03:51I hope so. I hope it's just like a tasty sweet,
03:54but savory kind of a vibe creme brulee all the way.