David Archuleta was born in Miami, Florida to James Jeffrey Archuleta, of Spanish descent, and Xiomara Guadalupe Mayorga, a Honduran immigrant. He has four siblings.[4]Archuleta's family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when Archuleta was 13 and currently lives in Murray, Utah, where Archuleta is a student at Murray High School. He once suffered partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered.

Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 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.

Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child, according to an interview aired on American Idol, was Latin-influenced. 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 Broadway musicals.

On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited NatashaBedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey Michael Jackson Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. He also listed Tamyra Grayand Elliott Yamin as his favorite former American Idol contestants. Like Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.

The three songs Archuleta performed in the American Idol Finale, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, In This Moment, and Imagine, became top-10 downloads on iTunes.