Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor born on January 29, 1982, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Leila, a dental hygienist, and Eber Lambert, a program manager for Novatel Wireless. His father carries English, Norwegian, Irish, French, Danish, and German ancestry, while his mother is Jewish with Romanian-Jewish roots. Lambert was raised in his mother's religion and has a younger brother, Neil. Shortly after his birth, the family relocated to San Diego, California.

Lambert began performing at age nine through the Metropolitan Educational Theatre network, later known as MET2. As he progressed through Mesa Verde Middle School and Mount Carmel High School, he pursued more intensive acting and vocal training, participating in theater and choir, singing with the school jazz band, and competing in local Air Bands competitions. During this period he also appeared in professional local productions including Hello, Dolly!, Camelot, The Music Man, Grease, Chess, and Peter Pan at venues including The Starlight and The Lyceum. After graduating in 2000, he enrolled in the musical theater program at California State University, Fullerton, but withdrew after five weeks to pursue work in Los Angeles.

At nineteen, Lambert secured his first professional engagement, spending ten months performing on a cruise ship with Anita Mann Productions. He subsequently performed in light opera in Orange County, California, and by twenty-one had signed with a manager and joined a European tour of Hair. In 2004, he appeared in a Theatre Under the Stars production of Brigadoon and a Pasadena Playhouse production of 110 in the Shade, before being cast as Joshua in The Ten Commandments: The Musical at the Kodak Theatre alongside Val Kilmer. That same year he came to the attention of the casting director for Wicked and was hired as an understudy for the role of Fiyero and an ensemble member, first in the musical's national touring production beginning in 2005 and then in its Los Angeles production from 2007, completing his run with the show in 2008. During this period he also briefly fronted the underground rock band The Citizen Vein with Steve Sidelnyk, Tommy Victor, and Monte Pittman, and worked as a demo singer and session musician. A compilation of his 2005 recordings was released in 2009 under the title Take One.

Lambert rose to widespread public attention in 2009 as a contestant on the eighth season of American Idol, where he auditioned in San Francisco performing "Rock with You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." He finished the competition as runner-up, with winner Kris Allen publicly stating that Lambert deserved the title and describing him as one of the most gifted performers he had ever encountered. The Los Angeles Times later ranked Lambert fifth on its list of the top 120 American Idol contestants drawn from the show's first nine seasons. Later in 2009, Lambert released his debut album For Your Entertainment, which entered the U.S. Billboard 200 at number three. The album produced the single "Whataya Want from Me," which earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

His second studio album, Trespassing, followed in 2012 and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Lambert the first openly gay artist to reach the top position on that chart. His third album, The Original High, was released in 2015, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 and yielding the single "Ghost Town." Across his solo career, Lambert has sold over three million albums and five million singles worldwide.

Alongside his solo work, Lambert has performed with the remaining members of rock band Queen in a collaboration known as Queen + Adam Lambert, replacing Paul Rodgers for the project. The partnership has included multiple worldwide tours beginning in 2012. In October 2020, Queen + Adam Lambert released their first album together, Live Around the World, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

In late 2019, Lambert founded the Feel Something Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting causes that disproportionately affect the LGBTQ+ community, including education and the arts, mental health, suicide prevention, and homelessness.

Lambert made his Broadway debut on September 16, 2024, taking over the role of the Emcee in the revival of Cabaret, replacing Eddie Redmayne in the part. His Broadway career spans 2005 to 2024, encompassing his earlier work on Wicked and his debut performance in Cabaret.