Caleb Johnson has trashed the song he had to record after winning of American Idol in 2014.
“I knew that, by de facto, if you won you had to sing the song, and the song was just utter crap,” Johnson told Insider. “Like it was just the worst song ever.”
The single, “As Long as You Love Me,” was written by The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins in 2010 and was included on the 2012 debut album from Idols South Africa runner-up Mark Haze.
“How is that even possible that somebody else releases the same song in another country?,” asked Johnson, who called Hawkins’ song “a cheesy piece of crap.”
Johnson released his debut album Testify only three months after winning Idol, only to see it flop. He said the record label put “absolutely no support behind” the album.
“The label wouldn't release the single, there was no single that came out after the record was done,” he said. “There was no music video. There was nothing.”
Johnson, 31, and his band The Ramblin’ Saints recently released their sophomore album Mountain Mojo Vol. 1.