Biography: David Archuleta

LT Staff

August 4, 2010

David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop and occasional actor. At ten years old he won the children’s division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, Archuleta became the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of American Idol. In May 2008 he finished as the runner-up, receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes. singer-songwriter, best selling author

In August 2008 Archuleta released “Crush,” the first single from his self-titled debut album. The album, released two months later, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart; it has sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. and over 900,000 Worldwide.

Archuleta was born in Miami, Florida, to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie Mayorga, a salsa singer and dancer. He speaks very little Spanish. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta’s family moved to the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy when Archuleta was six. He currently lives in Murray where he attended Murray High School. Archuleta is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America.

Archuleta started singing at the age of six, inspired by a Les Misérables He started performing publicly at age ten when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition, singing “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division. video. “That musical is what started all of this”, he said.

Archuleta’s mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also “was big on dancing” according to Archuleta, and would “make” him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father’s collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and “soulful music”. In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadwaymusicals.

On his American Idol “Fast Facts” page, Archuleta cited his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. Like Elliott Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe. In a Seventeen interview he cites Sara Bareilles as a clever singer-songwriter whom he looks up to.