Kris Allen fans have been waiting for months for an announcement about a followup single to his platinum-selling debut ditty, “Live Like We’re Dying.” But the recent decision by Jive/19 to serve radio with a recut rendition of “The Truth” — it’s now a duet with Train frontman Pat Monahan that’s slated to hit iTunes on May 11 — has met with its fair share of controversy. I caught up with the American Idol season 8 champ to find out who cooked up the idea for a reconfigured track, how the duet came about, and whether or not he’s upset that despite having cowritten nine of the 12 tracks on his self-titled disc, his label has now chosen two singles he didn’t have a hand in writing. (For the uninitiated, both versions of “The Truth,” with and without Monahan, are embedded after the jump.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s talk about your new single, “The Truth.” The album version of the song contains your vocals only. Now it’s been re-recorded as a duet of sorts with Train’s Pat Monahan (who co-wrote the song with Toby Gad). How did that come about?
KRIS ALLEN: It came about through an idea from the label. Their idea was that Pat wrote the song, so why not get him involved in it in some way. And obviously Train is doing really well right now, and I don’t think that can be ignored. Everyone thought it was a good idea.
The song wasn’t written as a duet. How did you decide which parts of the song Pat would be singing?
Right, it wasn’t written as a duet, and I think the plan was to make it not seem like a typical duet. It wasn’t like, “Hey, I can sing a verse, then he can sing a verse.” ‘Cause then maybe we’re breaking up with each other, and that’s not what we were trying to convey. So we thought it would be good idea to just put him on the bridge.
When it comes to the Idol universe, fans take a certain sense of ownership of your career, and they can get pretty worked up if they feel like you’re being done wrong. That was the case with this new version of “The Truth.” People were on the Internet asking, “What are Jive and 19 doing to Kris?” Conversely, though, it’s not like Beyoncé fans were upset when she recut “Video Phone” as a duet with Lady Gaga. Is there a worry that you might get painted with the victim brush? How would you respond to fans who are upset about the addition of Pat Monahan to this song? READ FULL STORY »
Kris Allen was in a car accident on New Year’s Day, but though he’s bruised a bit, 2013 is already shaping up to be a wonderful year for the former American Idol champion. “Thank you @ford for equipping me with a car that kept my whole family @katyallen @ZorroPup and the little one we have on the way safe,” he tweeted last night, letting slip the news that he and his wife are expecting a child. Just in case fans missed the clue, he followed up with, “Yes I got in a really bad wreck tonight and yes I’m having a lil baby. 
