David Archuleta hopes his new song can help parents understand their LGBTQ children

It took David Archuleta years to understand his sexuality, and now he hopes he can help others follow that path. A former American Idol Archuleta, who finished in second place in Season 7, recently returned to the music competition show to sing his new single “Hell Together,” about his mother’s reaction when he came out. Now Archuleta hopes the song can inspire similar reactions in other parents of LGBTQ+ children.

The title and lyrics of “Hell Together” come from something Archuleta’s mother said to him after he came out to her. Archuleta was raised as a Mormon, a faith that prohibits homosexuality, but when he told his mother the truth about himself and said he was turning away from her religion, she said she would rather go to hell with him than stay in a church that wouldn’t accept him.

“Hopefully, by spreading the word and sharing how my mom dealt with it, it can help other people develop a different perspective and attitude about how they view their queer children,” Archuleta said in a new interview with ABC Audio.

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Archuleta came out in 2021. Now, three years later, he feels more comfortable in his skin. He was recently Out of Magazine and tells ABC Audio: “I’m having a great time right now.”

This comfort helped him process the intense emotions associated with “Hell Together”!

“To have my mom say, ‘If you go to hell, we’re going to hell together,’ is really special,” Archuleta said. “Those are strong emotions, but I think they’re good emotions. To see that other people can feel them when they immerse themselves in the song is really special.”

Archuleta originally participated in American Idol in the 2008 season. He was popular with the fans and made it to the final, where he eventually lost to David Cook (to date this is the only case of American Idol‘s first and second place winners of the same name). Last year he returned to TV singing competitions and played Macaw on The masked singer.