Adam Lambert is out on his own for his latest project, ADAM, due out everywhere on July 10.
LISTEN NOW: Audacy Check In with Adam Lambert
The American Idol album and Queen vocalist recently joined us in our Los Angeles studios for an unfiltered conversation about what’s next, his path to becoming a gay icon, his time fronting a Classic Rock behemoth, and much more during an Audacy Check In with Bru.
“The takeaway from the album is it's kind of about looking in the mirror and accepting everything about yourself, the good and the bad,” Lambert admits about his upcoming LP, set to be released independently on his own label. “Two things can be true at once. You can have a good day and a bad day, and it can be the same day, you know what I mean? The separation between positive and negative, it's so tricky, and so sensitive, and I just thought this is a full portrait of who I am in 2026. I'm gonna call it ‘ADAM.’”
“I feel like I haven't introduced myself fully yet,” Adam adds. “I think this project too, I'm doing it myself. I released this on my own label. I'm funding it myself. I've hired all the people working on it. I feel like I have a lot of ownership over this one, and I've had bits of that in the past, but this one in particular, I feel like I'm really driving it as a business thing, and as a creative expression.”
According to Lambert, the sound of ADAM is a departure from traditional Pop, heavily influenced by 90s Electronic and Alternative music, specifically citing Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Muse, and Daft Punk as influences, making more use of synthesizers to replace traditional guitar roles for a "gritty" and "progressive" texture.
“I moved from LA to New York last year. I had been in LA for 25 years, so it's my first time living in New York, making a big life change, big chapter change, and I think New York, just being, I'm on the Lower East Side, it's still a little grungy and gritty. I wanted to get some new flavor, and I do think that some of that energy and texture of the city is in the new music.”
Lambert also reflected on some of his previous chapters, like his iconic decade-long run with Queen, describing the experience as the "biggest honor" and a masterclass in performing on the world's largest stages. He also acknowledged his role as pioneer, being the first gay man some would see on TV during his American Idol season.
“It's incredible how much change has happened,” he says. “When I first came out into the music scene, there weren't really any other gay men doing mainstream Pop music.”
“I'm just really proud of all the progress we've made as a community, And yeah, the pendulum is swinging and there's some ups and some downs and there's some setbacks and obstacles and that's just how it's gonna go. That's life and history, but I think we've done really well.”
“I've met a lot of people over the last decade or so, who come up to me and they're like, ‘you know, you were the first gay person I saw on TV in my family's household, and like whether or not it was a positive reception or not, you were the one that, that prompted the conversation,’ and that's pretty cool and completely terrifying at the same time, because I didn't ever think that that's why I was getting into this,” Adam remembers. “Quickly figuring out what it represented me being in this space, the ripple effect that it had, that's really cool and I'm really honored that it could help anybody. That's why I started getting more and more involved in charitable foundations and I started my own foundation. This is bigger than just my own thing.”
For much more from Adam Lambert, check out the full conversation above.
The latest from Lambert arrives on July 10
The latest from Lambert arrives on July 10
