Cameron Whitcomb Addresses Addiction, Suicidal Ideation and ‘Accountability’ with Emotionally Charged Debut (Exclusive)

Fresh off of the release of his debut album, The Hard Way, Cameron Whitcomb feels like he’s “finding a pretty good spot” in his life now. But to the 22-year-old rising Canadian singer-songwriter, it’s “a real hard concept to wrap my head around,” especially considering where his mentality on the subject was just a few short years ago.

“I thought about killing myself lots before everything took off,” Whitcomb candidly tells PEOPLE. “And back then it was like, ‘Ah, it’s easy. I can just do it.’ And nobody really pays attention. But now I just feel like I don’t have that option, which is a trippy kind of thing because I feel like there are so many people looking up to me.”

Tried-and-true fans of the burgeoning star may remember his iconic 2022 appearance on American Idol, where he was eliminated after reaching the top 20 contestants. However, the trials and tribulations of his life that informed the true-grit lyrics and soulful melodies fans have come to know him for today began long before he took to the small screen.

“I grew up in a great home with loving parents, and a lot of my bulls— was just self-inflicted and my own, whether I was insecure or whatever,” the artist shares. “A lot of my problems were self-inflicted and environmental. I mean, a lot of my brothers are addicts … so growing up and glorifying drugs and alcohol and ‘F— you, mom and dad,’ and go do whatever I want.”

Those circumstances led to an unfortunate early start into a spiral of substance abuse that Whitcomb navigated throughout most of his teenage life. “I started doing drugs when I was probably 12 or 13 years old, and it took up until two years and four months ago for me to get clean. It was kind of my whole life,” he recalls.

Whitcomb, who notes that his “first time getting drunk [was at] 12 years old,” says, at the time, he got “pretty obsessive” about any substance’s ability to “alter your brain.”

“And then you don’t even realize it’s a problem until it’s like, ‘Holy f—,’ and everything’s just falling apart. And then it gets out of control so fast,” he says. “First time I did meth, it was like, ‘Whoa, this is f—ing really great. Why isn’t everybody doing this?’ And you [don’t] realize the repercussions before it’s too late.”

But music provided solace for Whitcomb, though his relationship with it has evolved almost as dramatically as his personal life. The artist shares, “When I first started writing songs … I was writing songs for what I thought other people wanted to hear … when I got clean, it was like, I’m just going to write songs for me. And it was interesting seeing people really react to it, and I wasn’t the only one feeling like that.”

With that clarity towards his music came, in tandem, a clarity attached to his willingness to get clean. However, he admits his recovery journey is still ongoing.

“I am still working through it. I’m still far from where I want to be. I have a real hard time with the ups and downs of one week, I’m on cloud nine, and then the next, I’m just f—ing so hurt,” the singer explains. “And what I’m trying to navigate right now is trying to smooth that out, make the highs not so high, and the lows not so low.”

He continues, “It’s accountability. You can’t grow unless you realize that you are the problem sometimes.”

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Despite Whitcomb’s Idol run first bringing his signature, raw vocals to fans’ attention globally, it’s what came after his appearance on America’s most famous singing competition that truly defined his artistry as it stands today.

“The only thing Idol ever did for me was make me realize there’s more, this is a real thing,” the “Medusa” singer reflects. “This is actually a goal that I can accomplish and make music, make music a career.”

Whitcomb’s experience of being on — and subsequently voted off of — Idol lit a fire under him that is undoubtedly still raging to this day. “And after that, it was just f—ing post every day, learn how to play guitar, write songs, and just try s—,” he shares of the invigoration he felt to delve deeper into his passions.

The culmination of the aforementioned feelings and experiences has manifested itself powerfully in his debut album: The Hard Way. Contained in its 15 tracks is an exploration of the totality of the human spirit, pushed to the brink and brought back time and again.

“A lot of my favorite writers, even authors and a lot of my favorite songwriters, don’t beat around the bush,” Whitcomb says of his writing style on The Hard Way. “I mean, songwriting is cool because you can feel happy, you can feel sad, and songs can make you feel happy or sad, but they can also make you feel gross and disgusted and uncomfortable. And I think that’s such an important feeling to have.”

Through emotionally-charged tracks such as “Quitter,” “Options,” “Hundred Mile High” and “Medusa,” which each speak to different facets of recovery, regret and coping, Whitcomb paints a stunning, near-visual watercolor of his rollercoaster existence, highly informed by his continually shifting perspective today.

“That’s really important in songwriting. I mean, you can be right on the nose with it, or you can paint a picture to describe that as well. And that’s something I really love to do in my songs,” he shares of explicitly delivering sure-to-be-fan-favorite songs while implicitly layering them with deep messaging.

“Some of the imagery and the songs like ‘Options’ [are] just recreating that scene of what it would look like if I went on one last bender — it is a skeleton with this jaw hanging off, and I’m peeking through the blinds,” Whitcomb says of the new music.

Though some of the issues Whitcomb discusses in his new music can be inherently uncomfortable to address, his goal was to use that discomfort as a vehicle to drive conversations around topics that would otherwise go unaddressed.

He recalls, “I was going back and forth with [songwriter] Cal [Shapiro] on that first line of ‘The Hard Way.’ It was like, ‘I should have worked up the courage to kill myself.’ And he’s like, ‘Dude, saying kill myself is such an uncomfortable sentence because there’s so much pain that comes with that.’ ”

“He’s like, ‘Okay, what if we say end myself or something like that?’ I’m like, ‘Nah, dude. I think you just say it. You just say it and it’ll kind of punch people in the stomach.’ But it’s the truth,” the singer adds.

Ultimately, Whitcomb seeks to spin the uncomfortable on its head, using his relatable struggles to help others navigate their own, a pillar he hopes to continue as he kicks off the I’ve Got Options Tour and shares songs from The Hard Way live with fans on the road.

“It’s exciting and it feels good to tell the truth,” he says. “It feels good to just share that with people because I mean, a lot of these people come to my shows and I talk to ’em and they got 10 days clean, or they got 30 days clean or two years clean or 10 years clean, and they’re the same human. They’re the same … we’re the same people. They understand me and I understand them … it’s really special to be able to share that.”

The Hard Way is available on all major streaming platforms now.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.