Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after finishing as runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. Later that year, he released his debut album For Your Entertainment, which debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album spawned several singles, including "Whataya Want from Me", for which he received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
In 2012, Lambert released his second studio album Trespassing. The album premiered at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making him the first openly gay artist to top the album charts. In 2015, Lambert released his third album The Original High, which debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 and produced the single "Ghost Town". Since 2009, he has sold over three million albums and five million singles worldwide.
Alongside his solo career, Lambert has performed with Queen in several worldwide tours from 2012. Their first album, Live Around the World, was released in October 2020, and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
In late 2019, Lambert founded the non-profit Feel Something Foundation, anchoring his ongoing philanthropy, LGBTQ+ and human rights activism. Its particular focus is support for organizations and projects that directly and disproportionately impact the LGBTQ+ community, including education and the arts, mental health, suicide prevention and homelessness.
Lambert made his Broadway debut in 2024, replacing Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee in the revival of Cabaret on September 16.
Early life and family
Lambert was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on January 29, 1982, to mother Leila, a dental hygienist; and father Eber Lambert, a program manager for Novatel Wireless. His father is of English, Norwegian, Irish, French, Danish, and German descent while his mother is Jewish, with Romanian-Jewish roots. Lambert was raised in his mother's religion. He has a younger brother, Neil. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to San Diego, California.Lambert began performing with Metropolitan Educational Theatre network from the age of nine. A few years later, he began more intense acting and vocal coaching, continuing to perform with both MET2 and what was to become the Broadway Bound Youth Theatre Foundation, as he moved through Mesa Verde Middle School and then Mount Carmel High School. There, he became heavily involved with theater and choir, performed vocals with the school's jazz band, and competed in the local Air Bands competitions. He also appeared in local professional productions such as Hello, Dolly!, Camelot, The Music Man, Grease, Chess and Peter Pan, at venues such as The Starlight, The Lyceum and others.
After graduating from high school in 2000, he attended California State University, Fullerton. His major was musical theater, but he withdrew from the program after five weeks to move to Los Angeles: "I just decided that what I really wanted to do was try to work in the real entertainment world. Life is all about taking risks to get what you want."
Career
2001–2008: Career beginnings
At 19, Lambert got his first professional job, performing on a cruise ship for ten months with Anita Mann Productions. Afterwards, he performed in light opera in Orange County, California. By 21, he was signed with a manager and cast in a European tour of Hair. In 2004, he appeared in the Theatre Under the Stars production of Brigadoon and a Pasadena Playhouse production of 110 in the Shade, before being cast in the role of Joshua in The Ten Commandments: The Musical at the Kodak Theatre alongside Val Kilmer. He came to the attention of the casting director for Wicked, and was hired as the understudy for the role of Fiyero and an ensemble member in the first national touring production of the musical from 2005, and the Los Angeles production from 2007. He finished performances with the musical in 2008.During this same period, Lambert briefly fronted underground rock band The Citizen Vein with Steve Sidelnyk, Tommy Victor and Monte Pittman. He also worked as a demo singer and a session musician; a compilation of his 2005 recordings was later released in 2009 on the album Take One.
2009–2011: ''American Idol'', ''For Your Entertainment'', and ''Glam Nation Tour''
In 2009, Lambert auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol in San Francisco, California by singing "Rock with You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". Advancing to Hollywood Week, he performed "What's Up" and "Believe" solo, and "Some Kind of Wonderful" in the group effort. Simon Cowell voiced some concern about his theatricality, but Randy Jackson found it "current". He advanced to the top 36 performing " Satisfaction". In the first week of live shows, his rendition of Michael Jackson's "Black or White" was praised by all four judges. For Country week, he sang a sitar-infused version of "Ring of Fire". His Motown night acoustic version of The Miracles' "The Tracks of My Tears" drew praise from judges and a standing ovation from Smokey Robinson, the week's mentor. Advancing to the top 8, he sang the 2001 Michael Andrews and Gary Jules arrangement of "Mad World". Because the show exceeded its time slot, only Cowell gave a critique, which he did by giving Lambert a standing ovation, the only one he bestowed during his decade-long run as an American Idol judge. After Lambert sang "If I Can't Have You", delivering what DioGuardi called his "most memorable performance", Cowell described his vocals as "immaculate". For the top 3 show, he performed "One" before Cowell declared, "If you are not in the final next week, it will be one of the biggest upsets"; and continued with "Cryin'" before Abdul affirmed, "we'll be seeing you next week and many years after that."In March 2009, photos of Lambert kissing another man while dressed in drag at Burning Man surfaced online. Highlighted as controversial, they were displayed by conservative commentators on The O'Reilly Factor, who called them "embarrassing" and questioned if the images would have an effect on the program. Fox restricted press access to Lambert and to his family following the outing. Despite conservative backlash, outlets such as The New York Times and ABC News speculated that Lambert would be too popular to lose the competition. Upon the announcement of Lambert as runner-up, American Idol pundits, gay bloggers, and LGBT news outlets reassessed these claims, noting that his queerness may have alienated conservative viewers.
Lambert performed three solos in the finale, a reprise of "Mad World", followed by the 1960s civil rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come", to tremendously positive judge reaction. After his performance of the mandatory winner's single, "No Boundaries", Cowell summed up Lambert's journey: "Over the entire season, you've been one of the best, most original contestants we've ever had on the show. The hope and whole idea of a show like this is to find a worldwide star, and I truly believe we've found that in you." Upon winning the competition, Kris Allen stated: "Adam deserved this," later explaining he thought Lambert deserved to win as much as he did, and that Lambert "was the most consistent person all year. He was seriously one of the most gifted performers that I've ever met." Lambert's version of the winner's single was released alongside Allen's. The Los Angeles Times later ranked Lambert fifth in its list of the top 120 American Idol contestants, selected from the first nine seasons of the show.
- Due to the judges using their one save to save Matt Giraud, the Top 7 remained intact for another week.
For Your Entertainment, Lambert's first studio album, was released on November 23, 2009. Debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 and selling 198,000 copies in the US its first week, the album saw Lambert in collaboration with producers such as Rob Cavallo, Dr. Luke and Max Martin. Album writers included Matthew Bellamy, Ryan Tedder, Rivers Cuomo, Justin Hawkins, P!nk, Linda Perry and Lady Gaga. At Metacritic, the album received a score of 71, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Spin said the album is "perhaps the strongest, most flavorful batch of tunes to reach an AI vet, and Lambert's polymorphous vocal skills unite dancefloor strut and hard-rock pomp in a convincing glam package." Rolling Stone, however, gave it a more mixed review: "The songs sound great but feel strangely stuffy— seems like a disc that was overthought. Next time, the hugely talented Lambert should make sure he's going straight for the gut."
Its Claude Kelly and Dr. Luke-produced lead single "For Your Entertainment" preceded the album's release but was not as successful as its second single "Whataya Want from Me" which impacted on charts worldwide, became his highest-peaking single on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 53rd awards ceremony. Another notable single was "Time for Miracles", the ending theme for the disaster movie 2012., For Your Entertainment has sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide and was certified gold in the US in June 2010. On November 22, Lambert performed "For Your Entertainment" at the American Music Awards of 2009. The controversial performance, which was the night's finale, showed Lambert kissing a male bassist and grabbing the crotch of another. In response, the Parents Television Council, a conservative decency group, urged viewers to complain to the FCC and launched a formal complaint—though the performance aired "outside the FCC's usual 6am-10pm time frame prohibiting the broadcast of indecent material." After receiving about 1,500 telephoned complaints, ABC canceled Lambert's November 25 performance on Good Morning America, canceled his upcoming performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and removed him from consideration for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Discussing the incident in a Rolling Stone interview, Lambert said: "Female performers have been doing this for years—pushing the envelope about sexuality—and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out. We're in 2009—it's time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people's eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I'm not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom." Lambert returned two years later as a presenter at the American Music Awards of 2011 and was warmly received. Rejecting claims that the singer was banned from the show in 2009, executive producer Larry Klein said that he was anticipating future Lambert performances: "Adam Lambert is a friend of ours, he's talented and I like everything about him." Lambert's performance was included in Billboard's list of "Top Ten American Music Awards Moments" on the eve of its 40th anniversary, in November 2012.
In the months leading to his album release, Lambert appeared on the cover of magazines such as Entertainment Weekly in May 2009, Rolling Stone in June 2009 and Details in November 2009. His Rolling Stone cover story became the magazine's best selling issue of the year. He appeared on the cover of Out magazine in their 2009 "Out 100" issue, sparking controversy as Out publisher issued him an open letter questioning the "gayness" of his image. In April, he became one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People 2010. He was chosen for Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009, and interviewed on the show of December 10. In late 2009, he performed on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance,'' The Jay Leno Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He performed his first official solo concert, which sold out, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
In April 2010, Lambert returned to American Idol on ninth season as the first former contestant to mentor contestants during an Elvis Presley themed week, where he also performed. In June, he appeared on Canada's 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards to receive the UR Fav International Video award for "Whataya Want from Me".
In early June 2010, Lambert embarked on his debut headlining Glam Nation Tour, playing in the United States, Europe and Asia for 113 shows, nearly all of them sold out. The Indianapolis show was filmed for Lambert's first video release Glam Nation Live, a 13-track CD with DVD. The concert, which MTV called "out of this world", and his subsequent video release, were well-received, with Entertainment Weekly saying it "sizzles" with the energy that Lambert's vocals bring in a live concert setting. Glam Nation Live debuted at number one on the SoundScan Music Video chart and landed at number 12 on Billboards 2011 year-end music video sales chart. This followed the release of his first extended play, Acoustic Live!, consisting of acoustic versions of songs recorded live in various countries. The EP garnered excellent reviews and was called "electrifying" by the New York Daily News. In March 2011, Lambert appeared on tenth season of American Idol to perform his song "Aftermath" and in August, he was profiled in an hour-long documentary for Behind the Music series. Later in 2011, he again appeared as a mentor on a singing competition, this time on The Hub's Majors & Minors, coaching singing contestants who were children. In November 2011, Lambert joined Queen as the lead singer at the MTV Europe Music Awards, where the band was honored with the MTV Europe Music Award for Global Icon and performed a medley of classic hits.
Lambert changed management from 19 Entertainment to Direct Management Group in August 2011. The title track of his second studio album, Trespassing'', was co-written with Pharrell Williams; while the album's lead single, "Better Than I Know Myself", a collaboration with Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly, was released digitally on December 20, 2011.