Adam Lambert Speaks More Openly on Being Out In the Industry

It’s a bit of a rare treat to hear from Adam Lambert lately! He’s busy with Queen on their European/UK tour, and from reading this article, he hints at a reason why he’s not in the spotlight so much afterhours on this tour – he feels the effects of nightlife a bit more, now that he’s 36. Welcome to the club Adam!

Photo credit to Megan Moss – libel.co.nz

The focus of the following article by Michael Cragg at theguardian.com was about how Adam dealt with a more conservative industry, and how things have changed for other LGBTQ performers. He’s even given credit as a leader in that change. However, this article spoke about something I’ve never heard before regarding Adam’s American Idol audition, when he made the life-changing choice to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. Remember Simon Cowell’s comment about Adam being “theatrical?” Adam says it was code for being gay. I’ll spotlight that paragraph here, and then start the article from the top, with a link to finish reading it.

He fiddles with his leather gloves. “Look, I’m not dumb. I’d been watching [American Idol] for years and anyone who’d been obviously gay on the show had been made fun of – [Simon] Cowell would make fun of them and they became jokes. I remember when I auditioned I was worried about that. And then it didn’t happen to me and I was like: ‘OK, cool.’” Cowell did refer to Lambert’s voice in his first audition as “theatrical”, one of many coded descriptions he would go on to hear. “As I started progressing in the competition, and with the [Entertainment Weekly] article, I started to realise that my sexuality was becoming bigger than what I was doing, which, fundamentally, I felt was fucked up.”

Love ya!

~ Carol ~

Adam Lambert: ‘Now there’s an audience for me being exactly who I am’

By Michael Cragg

Despite being dressed like the archetypal US rock star – yellow-tinted aviator shades, black leather fingerless gloves, immaculate facial topiary – American Idol alumnus and adopted Queen frontman Adam Lambert is telling possibly the least rock’n’roll story ever. The night before our interview, he was kept awake at an unnamed London hotel by a “full-ass party” in the next room. “I called four different times, all this shit, and they wouldn’t shut it down,” he huffs, trying to contort his not inconsiderable frame into a tiny chair in his PR’s office. “We just found out it was a celebrity,” he adds, refusing to name names. Here for a whistlestop press tour ahead of another European jaunt with Queen, he’s now half rock cosplayer, half sleep-deprived octogenarian.

We talk about getting older. Lambert is 36, having started his pop journey in 2009 on season eight of American Idol. He likes certain things about being in his 30s. “I’ve got myself pretty well sorted. I get who I am. I can call myself out, but man, these hangovers last way too long, don’t they?” he cackles, as he does often. “I do feel my age, but in some ways, it’s a bit of a Peter Pan thing. I play dressup and sing for a living.”

As a kid growing up in California, he was inspired to play dressup and sing by “Bowie and Freddie and Boy George”. Lambert – a self-proclaimed “outsider” – found solace in musical theatre. “When I was in middle school, I didn’t have any friends. I was a weird kid. Also, as a gay person, it takes your body changing to go: ‘Oh right, this is how I’m different.’” At the age of 18, shortly after graduating from high school, he came out to his family and friends, eventually side-stepping college and moving to Los Angeles to live out his fantasy of being an entertainer. A 10-month stint on a cruise ship was followed by a role alongside Val Kilmer in The Ten Commandments: The Musical. In 2008, he auditioned for American Idol, performing – somewhat prophetically – Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Thanks to his paint-stripping vocals and scenery-chewing stage presence, he became a favourite to win. In the end, he finished runner-up to the decidedly more vanilla Kris Allen, a shock result that seemed to have been influenced by the emergence of photos of Lambert, who hadn’t discussed his sexuality on the show, kissing his ex-boyfriend.

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Comments

  1. We love Adam for Who he is!

  2. mandytwo says

    I have always loved Adam since the day I saw him on AI. I only listed to his CD in my car. I now have one “Queen with Adam Lambert” and by the cheers from the crowd he has been accepted by Freddie Mercury fans too. So happy for Adam.

  3. Marilyn Muller says

    ‘Mad World ‘ in a dramatic spotlight gave me chills… Followed Adam ever since. Despite being robbed of winning Idols Adam has reaped the reward of perseverance to reach his dream.. Blessed with such an amazing voice that spans octaves this is a beautiful soul that truly deserves his success. Love you my Adam. xxx

  4. Have followed Adam since I first heard of him, years ago. Saw him live in Costa Mesa with my daughter now passed … one of the times of my life. Always thinking of him with love, and best wishes.

  5. Lila Hayes Zubik says

    Well, if it was a coded message, I ignored it. He’s so fantastic!