David Archuleta’s vocal talent thrust him into the spotlight when he finished second on the seventh season of "American Idol" in 2008. While Archuleta appears to be at ease behind a microphone, he recently expressed in a blog post on his website that other aspects of fame have placed him outside his comfort zone.
In a Jan. 13, 2015, post, Archuleta wrote candidly that after stepping away from the stage to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile from 2012-2014, he realized just how much he disliked the limelight.
“I’m sorry,” Archuleta wrote, "but after these two years away and feeling comfortable to be myself, I do not want to be the suck-up type just so I can get more fans, more likes, more attention and fame. That stuff never interested me in the first place; although, I tried making everyone else around me happy who was interested in all of that. I am David. I love life; I love learning; I love sharing, and music is a way I express my passions and what is important to me.”
He wrote of previous efforts to embrace the trappings of fame but said that he plans to step back and remain true to his personality.
This is not the first time Archuleta has spoken of his insecurities and about how music has helped him understand and express himself. He stated during his “Face to Face: Live Facebook Event” hosted by the LDS Church in June 2014 that music helped him conquer communication barriers.
“I always had a hard time talking and communicating, bad communications skills,” Archuleta said. “And I was anti-social and people in school knew me for ‘the kid that didn’t talk but the kid who is smiling all the time,’ I guess. Music was a way for me to understand how I was feeling. I was like, ‘I feel this way. What am I feeling?’ And I would start singing, and it's like, ‘Oh, now I get it. Now I understand what I'm feeling.' "
Archuleta's introverted nature will not prevent him from sharing his music. He wrote in his blog post that he is working on songs for a future release, and he hopes “the music that comes will be something that you can feel is real.”
Email: mjones@deseretdigital.com