5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: David Archuleta

Chris Cornell's Widow Teases 'Fast Car' Cover In 60th Birthday Post
Chris Cornell's Widow Teases 'Fast Car' Cover In 60th Birthday Post

Name  David Archuleta

Best known for  A singer who was a made up character on Hannah Montana and iCarly but actually exists.

More from Spin:

Current city  (That I’m in?) Milwaukee. (Living in?) Los Angeles.

Really want to be in  Spain or Italy.

Excited about  New album. New book.

My current music collection has a lot of  Afrobeat, EDM, pop.

And a little bit of  ‘90s R&B.

Preferred format  Streaming so I can always have it with me on my phone.

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Amor Prohibido, Selena

I grew up on Selena and this album has some of her most classic songs that my mom and I immediately start singing along to together. It gets us moving and dancing cumbia or getting in my feels.

2

Innervisions, Stevie Wonder 

Songs like “Living for the City” and “Higher Ground” shaped my junior high years and his grooves, vocals, musical chord choices inspired all the generations of music to follow.

3

Dawn, Yebba

Yebba’s moody tones in both the melodies, her vocal runs and note choices, her sadness in this album. Her triumph to move forward in her heartache rips my guts out, but also makes me happy to feel her working through her pain. It gives me hope that I can move forward in my pain, too. This album has inspired a lot of my recent choices as a vocalist.

4

Jaguar II, Victoria Monet

There are not many albums I can listen to all the way through, but this was one of the few I was able to last year. The throwback funky grooves, the danceability, the catchy songs, the clever lyrics. Songs like Alright, Smoke, How Does It Make You Feel. All sooo good and immediate classics.

5

Dangerous, Michael Jackson

Who from my generation doesn’t have a Michael Jackson album in their top albums? He’s the foundation for pop music. He had us disco-grooving and getting funky in the ‘70s. Changes the trajectory of dance pop in the ‘80s. In the ‘90s with Dangerous he started blending that rocky-pop sound with his rhythms that only he could make and it forever changed where we are today with pop. “Black or White” changed my view of uptempo music and what I wanted to listen to and sing. His vocals on “Heal the World” showed his value in telling a message to bring people together. “Will You Be There” has gospel vibes. Too many classic songs on this sometimes-overlooked Michael Jackson album.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.