In a new interview with Billboard, Adam Lambert revealed what bothered him the most about the rock industry.
He was asked if there was any worry about how fans or the industry would react to the sound in his new project, and reflected on his past music career where he played various ‘roles.’ The singer referred to it as a trial-and-error experience and explained:
“It was a trial and error experience; I had that first single that was kind of sexy, and then the performance where I kissed a guy and I got a big slap on the wrist for it. I had so much support from the industry coming off of ‘Idol,’ and I think there was this collective sort of gasp and clutching of the pearls at that performance. They didn’t turn their back on me, but it felt like the audience took a collective step back.”
He mentioned being bothered by the double standard in the industry where heterosexual men could freely express themselves on topics like sex and love, while people were disturbed when he did the same. He noted that although the situation has changed now, there was previously a double standard applied to this issue:
“I had to play the game at that point because I wasn’t going to lose my opportunity. So I just kept moving forward and doing my thing. And obviously, there’s a lot more to me than just my sexuality, but that is a big part of who I am. Romance and sex and heartbreak, we see all of our favorite hetero artists sing about all that stuff all the time. So I was always a little frustrated with the double standard early on, because I was like, ‘Well, why can’t I?’ The game, for a while, became me asking how I could push things.”
The Role Of Sexuality In Marketing
Lambert wasn’t officially open about his sexuality during ‘American Idol,’ but some viewers found out about it a few weeks before the finale. The singer ‘lost some fans‘ along the way, but that didn’t stop him. After Idol, Lambert graced the cover of Rolling Stone and became the first openly gay person to have an album debut at the top of the Billboard charts. He also began touring with Queen in 2014.
In the same interview, Lambert explained how sexuality became a marketing strategy for musicians and artists. He also talked about his own experience in the field:
“I mean, it’s still a bit of a game — you still have to strategize, and you still have to figure out what people like and how they’ll respond to things and marketing and all that. But I think that identity politics has become such an important part of an artist’s whole package. People are not stupid: They know when someone’s being who they are, and when they’re not. If anything, with this next project, the people that know me will go, ‘Oh, yeah.’ The other thing is that in today’s world, where we’re showing so much more of ourselves with social media, the audience want in on our lives. So in a way, this is a glimpse. This is my experience.”
Lambert’s new EP, ‘It’s My Turn’ is to drop on July 19.