Adam Lambert has come a long way since his “American Idol” days.
During a Toronto stop on his tour with Queen, Lambert tells ET Canada‘s Roz Weston he’s thrilled to appear on stage with the band every night to witness fans “weeping” with joy to see him perform “the songs that have been a part of their lives for so long.”
The superstar singer seemed destined to perform with Queen after he auditioned for “Idol” with “Bohemian Rhapsody” which he jokes, “set certain things in motion.” Now, in his eighth year touring with the iconic rock band, Lambert says he never would have believed he’d be on the stage, filling in for the late Freddie Mercury today.
“I would have laughed in their faces,” he says of anyone who would have predicted this future. “I would have never believed it. It’s continuously surreal, every time I get on stage.”
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For the 35-year-old singer, his musical discovery of Queen and revolutionary frontman Mercury came late.
“I think I was in my early 20s when I discovered their full power and majesty, if you will,” he tells ET Canada. “And I was like “This guy is the coolest guy I’ve ever seen.’ And he’s running around the stage doing whatever he wants he’s wearing whatever he wants. He was so free, and that’s rock star to me.” Lambert even has high praise for “Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek, who was just cast as Mercury in a long-awaited biopic, saying, “I think he’s going to be great” and revealing Queen band members called his audition “unbelievable.”
Though he’s busy touring with Queen, Lambert hasn’t stopped working on his solo material, including the new single “Two Fux”. And while Lambert’s solo pop music and Queen’s classic rock may not seem like it would draw the same crowds, the singer says he sees a lot of fan crossover.
“I do and I see a lot of crossover which is really cool, I see a lot of my fans that I see on my solo tours. The common ground is the heart, if the song is affecting people and speaking to the heart, then genre is like… Well, what’s the difference?” he explains, adding that it’s a “testament” to Queen’s music that it’s able to reach so many people across multiple generations.
Between touring with Queen and working on his solo career, Lambert found the time to appear as a judge on “The X Factor Australia”. But despite his stint on that show and his history with “American Idol”, Lambert says he wasn’t asked to be a part of the rebooted series.
“Every year they cast the judges I’m in the mix in the media, so i’m flattered that people think of it,” he says, sharing some advice for the talent competition’s newest judge, Katy Perry.
“If you’re gonna give criticism don’t be too vague, be detailed because when you’re a contestant and you get that short little window of feedback it’s like, ‘Well what does that that mean?,'” he says, adding, “On ‘Idol’ you don’t really work with the judges like you do on some of the other shows, so detail and specific is a good way to judge when you’re on that show.”
