David Archuleta, who came out as queer in 2021, announced in 2023 that he was leaving the Mormon church after being unable to reconcile his religion’s view of homosexuality with his own journey. He’s just released a song about it, but specifically, about how his family has supported him through his decision.

“It was a scary place to leave something that was all I knew and that gave me my purpose to live, but it was something I knew I needed to do,” David says in a statement about the song, which is called “Hell Together.”

A few days after he announced he was leaving, David’s mom told him she was leaving, too. She told him, “If you go to Hell, we’re all going to Hell with you. We’re a family and we’ll always be there for each other, in good or in bad!”

“I was really moved by that,” David notes.

In the song, David sings, “All I want is to make you proud/ If I would run, would I let you down?/ You said
‘If I have to live without you/ I don’t wanna live forever/ in someone else’s heaven … if they don’t like the way you’re made, then they’re not any better/ If Paradise is pressurе, oh/ We’ll go to hell togethеr.'”

David says the song’s gospel vibe is “meant to show the joy and how by leaving my religion is how I found a greater light. And, more importantly, how much it meant to still have a support system of family still there for me.”

“Most people within the church would think you feel dark and lost leaving your faith, but that was not the case for me. I felt like I found myself!”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.