Adam Lambert

Best known as the season eight runner up on the reality singing competition American Idol, Adam Lambert is a singer, actor, and LGBTQ+ rights activist. Lambert spent his early childhood in San Diego, where he fostered a love for the arts early on. He was active in both theater and band, and began taking voice lessons as well. He briefly attended college before dropping out to pursue music full time.

Some of his early jobs include performing as a cruise ship entertainer, and participating in various theater productions. In 2005, he was cast as Fieyro’s understudy in the national production of Wicked, and he remained with the production until 2008.

The following year, Lambert auditioned for American Idol. He ultimately ended the show in second place. It was around this time that the media began to speculate that Lambert was gay, which he publicly confirmed on the cover of Rolling Stone in June 2009.

Following his American Idol appearance, Lambert’s debut album, For Your Entertainment, was released the same year. It spawned the Grammy-nominated single “Whataya Want from Me.” He was invited the following year to be a mentor on American Idol as an alum and later that year went on his first headliner tour.

Lambert has had a prolific career in music. In 2014, he joined Queen on a world tour, and the Queen + Adam Lambert tour was so successful that a second leg was added. In recent years he’s taken on multiple guest judge and mentor roles on popular competition singing shows, and in 2024, he joined the Broadway production of Cabaret, replacing Eddie Redmayne as Emcee.

Lambert entered a relationship with reporter Sauli Koskinen, and the two broke up in 2013. He briefly dated Javi Costa Polo in 2019. The singer has been in a relationship with Oliver Gliese since 2021.