After Twitter lit up last night with rumors that David Archuleta had been dropped by Jive Records, his label home since 2008, a Jive spokesperson confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that “David was released from our roster.”
Archuleta’s latest album, 2010’s The Other Side of Down, failed to gain traction at radio or on the charts, where it’s sold 67,000 copies as of February 18, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s a far cry from his 2008 self-titled debut, which moved nearly a million units and has been certified platinum.
The season 7 finale which pitted Archuleta against eventual victor David Cook logged over 97 million votes, the highest total the show had seen until the next year’s face-off between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, which drew 100 million.
Archuleta recently spoke with THR about his Idol experience, recalling the early weeks when America was first getting to know the contestants. Said Archie: “I was just wondering what’s the future going to be like? How hard is it going to be? Am I going to be able to handle it all? I think part of that stress is good because it keeps you focused.”
