Nowadays, singer-songwriter Adam Lambert is best known for being the lead vocalist with the legendary rock band Queen, replacing Paul Rodgers in 2011 who had in turn replaced the original singer, Freddie Mercury, after his untimely death. A lesser-known fact about Lambert, however, is that he first rose to fame after competing in the eighth season of American Idol. He finished the show as a runner-up, before releasing a number of successful solo albums including his 2009 debut ‘For Your Entertainment’.
Watching Lambert’s audition for American Idol all these years later, meanwhile, and you’ll probably be struck by his choice of song. “What are you gonna sing for us?” asks judge Kara DioGuardi. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Lambert replies, before launching into a confident, note-perfect rendition of the Queen track that gets him a yes from all four judges. Little did Lambert know, however, that just a few years later he would be making a career from singing that same song with Queen on stages worldwide.
Ironically, however, although Lambert received four yeses, his audition seemed to cause some controversy amongst the judges. At first, it seemed as though Simon Cowell wasn’t a fan of Lambert, arguing with Kara about his level of theatricality. At this point, Randy Jackson jumped in to give his opinion, saying that on reflection he felt Lambert was a good singer and that “I actually think it’s time…for someone like you,” while Paula Abdul summed up by telling Lambert that he was “brilliant.”
No doubt the judges would have all immediately given Lambert’s audition a yes if they had known he would soon be a fully-fledged member of Queen, performing tracks like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ night after night in his own ‘theatrical’ style. One such example of this came in 2020, when Lambert sang with Queen in Japan. Of course, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ featured on the setlist, and he gave a powerful rendition of the track alongside a heartwarming tribute to Freddie Mercury partway through.
Although many Queen fans agree that Freddie Mercury is irreplaceable, they also agree that Lambert has done a brilliant job stepping into his shoes as Queen’s singer, something evidenced by the warm reaction he received from the audience when performing in Japan in 2020. Consequently, it’s also an interesting experience watching his American Idol audition, and seeing where his journey to becoming Queen’s lead singer all began.
