American Idol Adam Lambert Thought Being Gay Would Hurt His Chances

American Idol: Adam Lambert Thought Being Gay Would Hurt His Chances

American Idol’s Adam Lambert mentioned in an interview that when he auditioned for season 8, he thought being gay would hurt his chances of success.

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American Idol Adam Lambert Thought Being Gay Would Hurt His Chances

When Adam Lambert auditioned for American Idol in 2009, he thought being gay would hurt his chances of success on the show. The pop superstar tried out for the long-running singing competition series back in season 8 by performing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” for American Idol judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi. Throughout his journey on the show, Lambert performed such songs as Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Michael Jackson’s “Black Or White,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music,” Tears For Fears’ “Mad World,” Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” His wild performances and exquisite falsettos won viewers over, and he ended up in the Top 2 but lost to Kris Allen.

In the years since competing on American Idol, Lambert has released multiple albums. “Whataya Want From Me,” from his debut album, For Your Entertainment, earned him a Grammy nomination. He became the first openly gay artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with his second album, Trespassing. In recent years, he has toured both in the United States and around the world with the legendary band Queen. Since original lead singer Freddie Mercury is irreplaceable, the partnership has always been labeled as “Queen + Adam Lambert.”

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Despite all this massive success, Lambert wasn’t actually sure if he would do well on American Idol. Speaking with OK!, the singer explained, “When I first auditioned, I was like, ‘No way, this won’t work,’ cause I had seen people who were obviously queer on the show before, and it seemed to be something they were rejected over.” Despite those worries, he ended up auditioning anyway and kept advancing forward in the competition, which shocked Lambert. He continued, “I said, ‘Why not? I’ll just try it.’ And every time I stayed in, I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is actually happening.’ Then I realized this is my shot. I might as well go for it. I might as well have fun with it. And so I took it as far as I possibly could.” For Lambert, he took that shot all the way to the finale, which catapulted him into a lucrative music career.

When Lambert competed, American Idol was still in its heyday with massive ratings. But the landscape of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the United States was massively different than it is today. The year before, California voters reinstated a ban on same-sex marriage with Prop 8. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” wasn’t repealed until 2010. And same-sex marriage didn’t become legal across the entire country until 2015.

And when it comes to American Idol specifically, it took many years for the singing competition show to feature any openly gay finalists; the first openly gay Idol contestant was M.K. Nobilette during season 13 in 2014. Lambert wasn’t technically out publicly when he was on American Idol, even though most fans believed he is gay. He came out in a Rolling Stone cover article weeks after the finale aired.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/american-idol-adam-lambert-thought-gay-hurt-chances/

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