Adam Lambert Dishes On "American Idol": "I Knew What I Was Getting Myself Into"
Singer Adam Lambert recently opened up to Pride Source about his new album, The Original High, his experience on American Idol and being an LGBT trailblazer in the music industry.
While Lambert doesn't call his new LP a "reinvention," he does call it a reframing. "I feel like it's still me at the heart of it," Lambert explains. "It's still my voice, but a little more grown up, and I feel like the sonic frame around the vocals is something new."
Originality has never been an issue for Lambert, but he goes on to confess that his over-the-top outfits and flamboyant behavior that we saw on Idol and over the past few years was often something of a defense mechanism.
Over the last five years, right after Idol, I think there was a certain amount of overcompensation in certain ways. I was dressing really outlandishly, and it was a lot of fun and it's definitely a part of who I am to wanna play dress up, but I think it got to a point where I was hiding behind it a bit... It's like the kid who goes to high school dressed goth and he's actually not into the devil at all but doesn't wanna be bothered by anybody.
I don't think I realized it at the time, but I can see this in hindsight now. At the time I thought, "This is who I am; this is what I do," and now it just feels like I'm in a new place in my life. I've grown up and evolved and I'm in a new place, and the album–the subject matter and the sound–reflect that.
Speaking of American Idol, Lambert assures us that he embraced the artifice of the show, that many critics (including past judge Mariah Carey) continue to call out.
It's a TV show. I didn't feel like it was fake at all. I knew what the concept was. Personally, if you're blindsided by what "American Idol" is, then you weren't paying attention. It's not that difficult to know what you're getting yourself into. That's why I auditioned; I knew what I was getting myself into.
Despite the media's past portrayal of him, as Lambert says "super sexual, someone who only wants to talk about his orientation," the singer praises the progress mainstream culture has made in terms of accepting LGBT artists.
Nevertheless, he wants to see more. "The more of us that are out there that provide some diversity, who can show different types of gay artists, it'll make it so it's not as much of a big deal," Lambert says. "It'll be an afterthought. We'll get to move toward a post-gay presence."
Can we get a post-gay amen?
Lambert will perform at the 2015 Logo Trailblazer Honors, the largest LGBT pride event on television, on Saturday, June 27 at 8pm.
