When Adam Lambert finished as runner-up on American Idol in 2009, he emerged as one of the competition’s most unforgettable contestants: a gay glam-rock singer (he came out to Rolling Stone two weeks after the Idol finale) with a powerhouse voice and a theatrical streak that defied the show’s usual pop-star blueprint.
Today, 44, Lambert has built a varied career, releasing multiple solo albums, spending more than a decade fronting Queen alongside Brian May and Roger Taylor, and returning to his musical theater roots in productions including Cabaret and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Now he’s entering another new chapter with Adam, his most personal album yet and the first released entirely independently on his own label. Shaped by a move to New York, the end of a long-term relationship and an industrial rock influence, the album finds Lambert taking stock of where he’s been and where he’s headed next.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter from London, where he was wrapping up a promotional mini-tour, Lambert looks back on the career that almost took him to Broadway instead of American Idol, earning the trust of Queen’s fiercely protective fan base, writing his own musical and why, after 17 years in the spotlight, he’s still discovering new facets of himself.
