American Idol Alum David Archuleta - Coming Out and Learning to Love Myself

After placing second on American Idol in 2008, David Archuleta shot up the charts with his lovesick hit “Crush.” But nearly 15 years later he admits he didn’t fully connect with the song until last year, when, at 30, he came out and kissed a man for the first time. “It felt effortless,” Archuleta, who now identifies as queer, says of the kiss. “I was like, ‘Oh, so this is what it feels like to like someone.’ Now I see why everyone relates to my song.”

- JEFF NELSON