Courtesy: BillboardIn a new story for Billboard’s Pride issue, Adam Lambert talks about his journey as an LGBTQ person in the public eye. The American Idol season eight runner-up admits being thrust into the spotlight so quickly on that show took some adjustment.
“I was really overwhelmed in the very beginning,” he says. “I was dealing with the personal adjustment I had to make, and then on top of it, there was all this energy behind being the gay guy doing it.”
He adds, “I knew I was comfortable saying, ‘Yes, I’m gay.’ But educating the masses? I didn’t get into this business to be an educator. I just wanted to wear glitter and sing.”
While Adam never hid the fact that he was gay on American Idol, he also didn’t outright say it publicly until he did a Rolling Stone cover story after the show ended.
“It was so weird because I was out already, but that wasn’t part of the conversation because on American Idol, at least back then, they weren’t letting you interact with the press,” he explains.
“I look back on it now, and maybe it would’ve been cool to make a stand and proclaim it, but it just didn’t come up.”
Adam says he’s since learned that “leading by example is a form of activism.”
The first part of Adam’s two-part album, Velvet Side A, comes out in September. He’s currently on the road with Queen on the British rock legends’ Rhapsody tour.
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