Noah Thompson's 'Upbringing' Revisits His Turbulent Childhood: 'Something That I Never Spoke About Before' (Exclusive)

There always seemed to be something behind Noah Thompson’s smile.

Even when the Eastern Kentucky native heard his name announced as the winner american idol In 2022, it seemed like no one really knew of a young father who left his job in construction in search of fame. But as Thompson now releases his first new music since leaving the record label to become an independent artist, it seems the truth is finally coming out.

And the truth was not always pretty.

“There was a time in my life where I felt like everything was falling apart,” Thompson, 22, tells PEOPLE from her home in Nashville. – I just drank all the time.

Thompson said the constant drinking was due to several things that happened in his life earlier this year. “I finally sat back and asked myself what the hell I was doing,” he remembers. – I almost needed that song to revive me in some way.

Noah Thompson.

Photo by Lena Webb

“That song” is now Thompson’s new single “Upbringing,” which he co-wrote with Lala Guzman and Josh Dorr earlier this year, and which touches on a lot of what he’s been through.

“Every line in that song rings true,” Thompson says of the raw and vulnerable tune. “It’s completely true to me growing up, but it’s something I’ve never talked about before. I’m not one to talk about my life or my childhood in general, but over time I’ve learned that in order to be an artist and be real and be vulnerable, you have to do these things.”

And his family is more than okay with him speaking his truth now.

“My family is very supportive,” explains Thompson. “They know that’s how we grew up and in the long run, I think they want me to be honest and true to myself. And if I’m singing these songs on stage every night, I don’t want to get up there and fake it.”

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In a way, “Upbringing” also touches on life after american idol.

“After I won american idolI was struggling with figuring out who I wanted to be as an artist,” recalls Thompson, who scored a hit with “One Day Tonight” in 2022. “I almost felt like I was lost during that whole process in a way, and I sam I’m not saying it’s anyone else’s fault but mine. Everything happened so quickly; I was just trying to wrap my brain around it.”

There was a time when his songwriting even had a direct hit.

“The first two years I was in Nashville, I never had a moment where I walked into a room and was just my honest-to-God self,” Thompson says. “But there were things I wanted to say. For me personally, I don’t think you can force creativity. But at the time I felt I was doing just that.”

Noah Thompson.

Photo by Lena Webb

Further complicating these internal conversations was the fact that Thompson had a son to support.

“I was trying to travel back and forth and do everything at once, and that was a lot for me at the time,” Thompson recalls of his now 3-year-old son, Walker. “Nothing was working. I knew in my heart that I didn’t want to break this song or that song. I just didn’t want to be that kind of artist. I wanted to write true stories about myself.”

And now, he’s doing just that.

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“As soon as I made that decision in my mind that I’m going to keep writing songs and see where they go, I just felt the songs start coming out of me,” says Thompson, who penned the poignant “Front Door Famous,” which appears on Luke Combs’ 2024 album Fathers and sons. “It just all worked out. And for me it was like God’s doing. There really were no words for it. I’m thankful for how it all worked out.”

And while Thompson and Walker’s mom are no longer together, they are working together to parent their little boy and give him the life he deserves.

“I always knew in my heart that I wanted to give my son a different life when I potentially had kids,” says Thompson, who will release his next single, “Demons in My Whiskey,” in September. “I’m thankful for everything I grew up around — all the things I saw growing up really make me who I am.”

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Source: HIS Education