Adam Lambert

Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) 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. He is also known for replacing Paul Rodgers for a reunion project known as Queen + Adam Lambert, which features the remaining members of rock band Queen.

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 (now MET2) 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 (TUTS) 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 "(I Can't Get No) 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.

• ^Note Due to the judges using their one save to save Matt Giraud, the Top 7 remained intact for another week.

Lambert performed "Mad World" on The Early Show and Live with Regis and Kelly. He began the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009 in July and that summer was also the recipient of two awards: the Young Hollywood Award for Artist of the Year and the Teen Choice Award for Male Reality/Variety Star at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.