Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. The Times identified Lambert as one of the few openly gay mainstream pop artists to launch a career on a major label in the United States.
Lambert released his debut album, For Your Entertainment, in November 2009, via RCA Records/19 Recordings. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 in December 2009, selling 198,000 copies in the United States in the first week.As of January 2011, it had sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide. In 2010, Lambert was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Whataya Want from Me".
Early life
Adam Lambert was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the son of Leila, an interior designer, and Eber Lambert, a program manager for Novatel Wireless. He has a younger brother, Neil.
Lambert's family moved to California shortly after his birth and he was raised in Rancho Peñasquitos in northeastern San Diego. He attended Deer Canyon Elementary School, Mesa Verde Middle School, where he was a winner in the Airband competition (featuring Michael Jackson's "Thriller"), and Mount Carmel High School (MCHS), where he was in theater, choir, and frequently performed vocals with the school's jazz band "MC Jazz". Some of his memorable MCHS performances included Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and "It's Only a Paper Moon" with MC Jazz.
His father is of "mostly Norwegian" descent and his mother is Jewish; Lambert was raised in his mother's religion. He has performed in Hebrew at Jewish events, singing songs such as "Shir LaShalom" at a 2005 tribute concert to assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Lambert attended Temple of the Arts in San Diego and has performed at the Kol Nidre service on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Lambert also performed in Jewish-themed The Ten Commandments: The Musical as Joshua, performing the song "Is Anybody Listening?"
Career
2005–09: Career beginnings and American Idol
Lambert has been a stage actor since he was about ten years old. He was cast as Linus in San Diego's Lyceum Theater's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Around age twelve, he was cast in a production of Fiddler on the Roof and continued performing throughout his teenage years including Hello, Dolly!, Chess, Camelot, The Music Man, Grease and played Captain Hook in Peter Pan. At age 19, Lambert left the U.S. to tour with Anita Mann Productions for ten months before returning to the U.S. to perform light opera in Orange County, California. He was then cast in the European production of Hair and U.S. theater productions of Brigadoon and 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. Lambert was one of the few actors in the play that garnered a positive review. From December 2006 to May 2007, Lambert briefly moonlighted as the front man for underground rock band The Citizen Vein with Steve Sidelnyk, Tommy Victor and Monte Pittman. Lambert also met producer Malcolm Welsford in 2005, who claims to have helped develop his recording career. Since 2004, he has regularly performed at the Upright Cabaret and the Zodiac Show, which was co-created by Carmit Bachar of the Pussycat Dolls.
From 2005-2008 he performed in the ensemble, as well as understudy the role of Fiyero, in the national tour and Los Angeles productions of Wicked.
Lambert auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol in San Francisco, California. In a Rolling Stone interview he said his decision to audition for the show came after a week at Burning Man where he experimented with "certain funguses." He went on to say that "I had a psychedelic experience where I looked up at the clouds and went, 'Oh!' I realized that we all have our own power, and that whatever I wanted to do, I had to make happen."
During his initial audition, he sang "Rock With You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." Lambert had cited several musical influences, including Madonna, Queen, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin. In the semifinals, Lambert was voted into the Top 13, joining fellow Group 2 performers Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen. Lambert and Allen became roommates in the Idol mansion, with Allen stating it was due to their neatness.
During Michael Jackson week, he sang "Black or White" leading to praise from all four judges, with Paula Abdul predicting that he would go on to the finals. The following week, Lambert sang a version of "Ring of Fire". While Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and Abdul all liked his performance, Simon Cowell called it "indulgent rubbish". On Motown night, Lambert sang an acoustic version of The Miracles', "The Tracks of My Tears". The judges all liked it, and Smokey Robinson, the week's mentor and the original singer-songwriter, gave Lambert a standing ovation. For his Top 8 performance, Lambert sang the 2001 Michael Andrews and Gary Jules arrangement of "Mad World". Because the show had exceeded its time slot, only Cowell gave a critique, which he did by simply giving Lambert a standing ovation. During the results next night, the other judges agreed that a standing ovation was the best critique of Lambert's performance. For his second Top 7 performance, Lambert sang "If I Can't Have You", delivering what DioGuardi described as his "most memorable performance", while Cowell described his vocals as "immaculate". Abdul was reduced to tears, with host Ryan Seacrest joking that Lambert had melted her into a "pool of Abdul". In the Top 4, Lambert was the first to sing, performing "Whole Lotta Love". Cowell commented, "that was one of my favorite performances...nobody can top that now", while Abdul, punning on the song's title, described Lambert's performance as "a whole lotta perfect".
Photos of Lambert romantically kissing another man surfaced while he was competing on American Idol. Initially shown and discussed by commentators on The O'Reilly Factor, the panel agreed that the images would likely have no impact on the competition. Lambert confirmed that the photos were of him, stating he had nothing to hide and has always been open about his life. Mainstream media speculation centered on Lambert's sexuality; presuming he was gay, he would be the first gay American Idol. Much of the media focus regarded the readiness of American Idol voters for an openly gay winner. Asked by Rolling Stone whether the speculation surrounding his sexual orientation impacted the final vote, Lambert laughed and said "probably". He confirmed that he was gay in a Rolling Stone cover story interview shortly after he was named the American Idol runner-up.
For the top three show, in which each of the three remaining contestants does a hometown visit and performance, Lambert sang both Michael Jackson's "Black or White", and the Michael Andrews / Gary Jules version of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" at his alma mater, Mt. Carmel High School. Afterwards, San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders declared May 8, 2009 "Adam Lambert Day."
On May 20, 2009, Lambert was announced as the runner-up for the eighth season of American Idol. Lambert performed a medley of "Beth", "Detroit Rock City", and "Rock and Roll All Nite" with rock band Kiss during the final episode. His version of the winning single "No Boundaries" was later released on iTunes alongside American Idol winner Kris Allen's version. Before the results were announced, Allen and Lambert joined together with Queen’s original guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor to perform the anthem "We Are the Champions".
Upon winning, Allen said, "Adam deserved this." Explaining this remark, Allen said that 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."
The LA Times has ranked Lambert 5th in their list of the top 120 American Idol contestants, selected from seasons 1 to 9 of the show.
Discography
- 2009: For Your Entertainment
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