GALLERY LINKS:
APPEARANCES / EVENTS > 2011 > Rolling Stone’s 2nd Annual American Music Awards After Party
APPEARANCES / EVENTS > 2011 > OUT Celebrates the OUT100
APPEARANCES / EVENTS > 2011 > 2011 American Music Awards

Adam’s portrait will be unveiled today on www.OUT.com/OUT100 as part of an issue sneak-peak, along with an interview by OUT’s editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin. A few years back the two had publically disagreed about the way in which Adam was being “handled” and positioned in the LGTB community.

Adam Lambert: I will say that on the flip side timing is everything. That’s one thing that I’ve learned a lot about this year. I was still just then introducing myself to the masses, and to me, on my own personal journey, it seemed like an interesting thing to do. Sometimes I’m not as objective as I could be, and I don’t look at things from the perspective of a first time audience. That definitely was somewhat the case with the American Music Awards performance [when Adam simulated oral sex and kissed his keyboard player], I didn’t quite put myself in the position of the viewer at home that had watched me on and the next time they see me on TV, it’s that performance. The AMA thing was maybe a little too much, too soon, and the photo shoot for Details, although very beautiful, maybe it wasn’t the right timing.

Aaron: But two years on, I’m curious about what you’ve learned about yourself in this process because you’ve very transparently gone from a contestant on a show whose success represented a radical breakthrough to a superstar. It must have been pretty exhausting and demanding and emotionally draining in many ways.
Adam: Yeah, it was definitely a lot to take on. But whenever I would feel overwhelmed or stressed out, the thing that kept me balanced is that I really do appreciate the opportunity I have. If I was a little younger, I wouldn’t have dealt with it so well. I’m 29, and having been in the entertainment industry throughout my entire twenties in Los Angeles, I grew almost, like, a Teflon coating, rather than being a kid from Ohio just jumping into it.

Aaron: And you probably weren’t prepared to have me pouncing on you…
Adam: No, but all’s fair in that game. I think it’s been character building, which is great, and it’s definitely put me where I’m at now. I think the hardest thing about being a gay celebrity is that we’re in the middle of a social rights movement and it’s a very hot topic, so we’re at a very pivotal time. Coming out was great, but there are certain issues that always surprise me and I think, Why is this an issue? I live and I’ve grown up in a space that is very accepting and open-minded; I surround myself socially with people that are artists and very bohemian and I forget sometimes that, OK, we’re dealing with mainstream culture now, which does not have the same mentality as I do. I think too that by nature I’m very contrary. If you tell me I can’t do something then I’m gonna push back harder and do it. I’m kind of rebellious, but I try to do it with a smile. I’m not a jerk about it. So a lot of what I did at the beginning of my career started to become reactionary. And also, I don’t know if I had the best guidance at the time. I was kind of flying solo in many respects, doing what I wanted to do. The people I was working with before are great people and I maintain friendships with them, they have amazing hearts. But I don’t know if it was quite the right fit on this journey, because it hadn’t really been done on a mainstream level in America, so it was new to everybody. We were all guessing.

Thanks to Shawn from Out!

GALLERY LINKS:
APPEARANCES / EVENTS > 2011 > 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards
PHOTO SHOOTS > Set 45