Singer
Adam Lambert reveals how facing homophobia in his early career shaped him
The singer-songwriter opened up about his struggles in the music industry.
Almost 14 years after he appeared on ‘American Idol’, ‘If I Had You’ singer Adam Lambert is opening up on how early career backlash helped him become who he is today.
While accepting an award at the 2023 Creative Coalition Spotlight Initiative Gala on January 21, Lambert took the chance to look back at his time as a performer and singer so far.
“When I went to audition (for American Idol), I was like, ‘Man, I don’t think they’re going to take me. I’m the gay guy. This is a pipe dream,” the ‘Fairyland’ actor admitted.
“And I made it to the final and I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I had no idea that it would go that long. And then once I got off the show, I got signed a record contract.”
He added: “There was an Entertainment Weekly article that was like, ‘Oh, this guy’s exciting, and it may or not be because he might be gay.’ And I was like, ‘Might be?!’”
Lambert felt he began a “very interesting journey” at that point because, in his opinion, there were “no gay guys. It was kind of the Wild West in terms of that.”.
Lambert’s AMA kiss controversy
The ‘Ghost Town’ singer also brought up his memorable 2010 American Music Awards moment when he kissed his male bass player on live television.
“I was kind of sexy and had dancers on stage, and I did a couple of suggestive moves with a couple of dancers, and an impromptu kiss with my bass player. I was feeling it,” Lambert said.
“Well, I got off stage and I got in trouble. The network was like, ‘How dare you?’ They banned me for a while. They threatened me with a lawsuit. It was like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s where we’re at,’” he explained, adding he didn’t realize “that kind of thing would ruffle feathers the way it did”
What was next for Lambert’s future as a singer?
Instead of changing himself for his public image or fading away into the crowd, Lambert said he decided to go all in and “be as gay as I f—ing can be. And be flamboyant and be wild, and if it gets me into trouble, it gets me in trouble, but I’m not going to back down from it.”
Lambert reveals the touching messages he got from fans
Although the kiss did cause Lambert some trouble with people in the industry, he revealed that over the years fans have thanked him for being true to himself.
“Over the past few years, I keep meeting more and more young people that saw me when they were a kid on TV and they’re like…'You helped me talk to my parents about being gay,” he said.