LS ‘“They Told Me to Tone It Down”: Adam Lambert on a Decade of Refusing to Shrink for the Industry’
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
For over ten years, Adam Lambert has been a force of nature in pop and rock — a performer whose talent, flamboyance, and authenticity challenged an industry still learning to embrace diversity. Behind the glitter and soaring vocals, Lambert’s journey has been a continuous fight against the pressure to conform.
“They told me to tone it down,” Lambert recalled. “From the moment I came off American Idol, I heard it over and over — ‘Don’t be too much. Don’t be too gay. Don’t be too bold.’ But that’s who I am. I wasn’t about to shrink for radio.”
After his iconic Idol finale performance of “Mad World” in 2009, Lambert immediately stood out: theatrical, unapologetic, and defiantly original. While his voice was undeniable, his open queerness and bold style unsettled the industry. “Labels loved the voice, but not always the message,” he said. “They’d say, ‘We love you, but can you dial it back a bit?’ That used to break my heart.”
The controversy peaked after his 2009 AMA performance of “For Your Entertainment,” where he kissed a male bandmate on stage — an act that sparked network outrage and temporarily canceled appearances. “People called it ‘too provocative,’ but all I did was exist authentically,” Lambert explained. “If a straight artist had done the same thing, nobody would’ve blinked.”
Instead of retreating, Lambert doubled down. Albums like Trespassing (2012) and Velvet (2020) became artistic declarations of empowerment and visibility. “I started writing songs about being seen,” he said. “Music stopped being just about charts — it became about connection.”
His partnership with Queen brought a new stage of authenticity. “People thought I’d be a tribute act,” he reflected. “But Brian May and Roger Taylor told me from day one — ‘We don’t want another Freddie. We want Adam.’ I finally felt like I didn’t have to edit myself to be accepted.”
Looking back over a decade, Lambert sees difference not as punishment, but as power. “Being different used to feel like a punishment,” he said. “Now it feels like power. But it took years to unlearn the idea that I had to play small to fit in.”
His advice to emerging artists is simple: “Don’t let anyone tell you to dim your light. You can’t build a legacy by blending in. I’d rather be remembered for being too much than for being nothing at all.”
For Adam Lambert, authenticity is more than a personal mantra — it’s a genre of its own. “The industry tried to label me,” he said. “But I wrote my own label: authentic. That’s my genre now.”
In an era that often pressures artists to conform, Lambert’s message is clear: he’s never been here to fit in. He’s been here to stand out.
