JONATHAN COULTON: This is ASK ME ANOTHER, NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and trivia coming to you from San Diego. I'm Jonathan Coulton. Now here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.
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OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Thank you, Jonathan. Today's episode is a California Christmas. It's time to welcome our first special guest. He started his career on "American Idol," where he sang Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in his first audition. Now, he tours as the frontman for the band Queen. Please welcome Adam Lambert.
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EISENBERG: Adam, truly an honor to meet you.
ADAM LAMBERT: Nice to meet you, too.
EISENBERG: And welcome home.
LAMBERT: Thank you. San Diego, hometown.
EISENBERG: You know, as a little kid, from what I've read, you always wanted to be a performer. You had that bug in you immediately. And you said in the interview with RuPaul that, as a kid, you did sheet-drag (ph). What is sheet-drag?
LAMBERT: It's taking your bed sheets and making a garment out of your bed sheets - notably, a strapless gown, you know.
EISENBERG: Yeah, sure.
LAMBERT: Or a cape or palazzo pants. I don't know. I mean, there's a lot you can do with one giant piece of fabric.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
LAMBERT: And, of course, mine, when I was teenager, was leopard print. Which was really, I mean, who doesn't love leopard print?
EISENBERG: That's perfect.
LAMBERT: Timeless pattern.
EISENBERG: That was your sheet on your bed?
LAMBERT: Yeah. It was - it was like a snow leopard or something.
EISENBERG: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool
LAMBERT: Yeah.
EISENBERG: So most of the world met you through "American Idol." And, you know, it was "American Idol" - you had a chance to watch it before you auditioned.
LAMBERT: I was a big fan.
EISENBERG: You were a big fan?
LAMBERT: Yeah.
EISENBERG: So - but when you decided to audition, I mean, like, what was going through your head?
LAMBERT: Don't mess it up. Don't mess it up. Don't mess it up. I mean, it was - I was really nervous because I knew the weight of it. You know, I knew, like, that this was something that could potentially change everything.
EISENBERG: Sure.
LAMBERT: And I was, like, ready for the next chapter.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
LAMBERT: So I said, why not? Let's try it. And having watched the show for so many years, I kind of had figured out what the game was at that point.
EISENBERG: What was the game?
LAMBERT: Well, the producers kind of pick a final top 12 - or 13 it was in my season. And each person kind of has their own wheelhouse or their own demographic or genre of music. And I realized, I'm like, oh, I'm the rocker. That's where they've put me. In fact, when I got to the audition, the first thing I sang in front of the judges was a Michael Jackson song. And they all looked at me like eh (ph) - confused, you know?
EISENBERG: Right, king of pop.
LAMBERT: And I knew. I was like, OK, well, I can do anything that you want. What else do you want? What do you want to hear? They're like, what else do you have? And I'm like, how about "Bohemian Rhapsody"? And a lightbulb - I could see it go off on top of all their heads. They went, yes. And so when I sang that, it...
EISENBERG: You just pulled that out?
LAMBERT: Right out, yeah.
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EISENBERG: When was the last time that you had, like, practiced that song?
LAMBERT: I had it on deck.
EISENBERG: OK. All right.
LAMBERT: Yeah.
EISENBERG: That's pretty great, though.
LAMBERT: The producers knew that that was sort of my backup choice, yeah.
EISENBERG: Yeah. OK. So after "American Idol," you decide to come out to the world on the cover and in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine.
LAMBERT: (Singing) Hello.
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EISENBERG: I mean, the result is that it was their highest-selling magazine of 2009.
LAMBERT: Wow.
EISENBERG: Did you feel a lot of pressure at that time to be the new gay poster boy?
LAMBERT: It was so strange to me because I came out to my family and to all my friends when I was 18.
EISENBERG: Right.
LAMBERT: And then through my early 20s, I was doing theater in LA. I was with lots of queer people. I was doing musicals. I was performing in clubs. I was dressing up. I was going out. I was like, yeah, this is me. I knew that. And I had no hang ups. My family was really supportive. And I was in an industry that supported it. Then on "Idol," right before "Idol" started, there were all these pictures that came out. And it was me, like, kissing and ex-boyfriend. And so, oh, God, what are we going to do? The blogs started writing about it. And I got asked on the carpet, like, so we see these pictures of you. And I'm like, yeah, that's me.
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LAMBERT: I'm kissing a dude.
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LAMBERT: And, you know, to me, at the time, I was looking at it from my point of view. I didn't have the knowledge or the experience yet to really see it as the public looking at me. So I do the whole competition. Once you start the competition, you cannot talk to the press at all - or at least that's how it was when I was on the show. And at that point, it was like, OK, let me focus on the task at hand here, which is singing. And so then at the end of the show when we could talk to the press again, all of a sudden, it was a big topic. And I was mixed with total intimidation and fear of that idea, excitement about, wow, this could be a big deal for more than just me, for many people. And that's when, at the end of the competition, we were like, let's do this the right way. Let's save it for a publication that we know will cover this the right way - fairly and very - in a very liberal light.
EISENBERG: Right. Yeah.
LAMBERT: And they totally got me.
EISENBERG: Good. Yeah. Then you get offered to be the frontman for Queen.
LAMBERT: Yeah.
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EISENBERG: You met the band on set on "American Idol."
LAMBERT: Yes, I did. I met the band doing the finale. They were invited. And we sang "We Are The Champions."
EISENBERG: Yeah.
LAMBERT: We all kind of looked at each other. And there was something good in the air, some good vibes. And then the rest all happened. I walked away. And I released my first album. And then Queen came a calling and said, hey, we have this thing. We're doing the MTV EMAs.
EISENBERG: Right.
LAMBERT: And we're doing a medley. You want to sing it? And I was like, yeah.
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EISENBERG: You know, you're stepping into Freddie Mercury's shoes. So how - what was your approach of, like, I need to pay homage obviously to this frontman?
LAMBERT: Big shoes. I got - you know, I wore heels. You know, I was like, big shoes to fill? Yeah, damn right. These are big.
EISENBERG: But you still want to be yourself, obviously.
LAMBERT: That was the most important thing. And talking to Brian May and Roger Taylor, it became really obvious to me very quickly - we're not looking for an imitator. We do not want an impersonation of Freddie. That would be tacky.
EISENBERG: Totally.
LAMBERT: You know, and, like, they wouldn't feel comfortable with that. I remember going to the first rehearsal with them. And I'm like, well, guys, you just tell me what you want and where to stand and what note to hit and how to do it and whatever, what to wear. And they were like, no, no, no. What do you want to do? Which, from the get-go, was the biggest blessing. They made me feel very comfortable. And they made me feel like it was really a collaboration.
EISENBERG: That's cool.
LAMBERT: Yeah. And it's evolved, which has been so exciting. When we started six years ago together, it was me getting up there really nervous, doing the best I could. But that's what's been so great is that we've gotten to evolve together as a unit. And we can look at each other now on stage and have, like, shorthand just with a look and know, oh, we're going to repeat that part. Oh, I didn't sing that right lyric. They know. I know. They don't know. Cool. We're good.
EISENBERG: Exactly.
LAMBERT: Now it feels like it's in my body, which is so cool to be able to get on stage and still have that freedom.
EISENBERG: Yeah. No, that's the best feeling of all time. All right. Adam Lambert, are you ready for your ASK ME ANOTHER challenge?
LAMBERT: Yes.
EISENBERG: OK. Fantastic. All right. So in 2009, you were on the cover of Rolling Stone. It was the highest-selling issue of that year. So in honor of that, we're going to describe other people who were also on Rolling Stone's cover in 2009. And remember, they are not all musicians.
LAMBERT: Right.
EISENBERG: Yes.
LAMBERT: I'm not going to know any of those.
EISENBERG: And if you do well enough, Patty Humphreys (ph) from Camarillo, Calif., is going to win an ASK ME ANOTHER Rubik's Cube.
LAMBERT: OK.
EISENBERG: Yeah. All right. Here we go. This artist was described by Rolling Stone as being a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll and all control freak. She graced the cover for the first time in March of 2009. Six months later, Kanye West interrupted her speech at the VMAs.
LAMBERT: Taylor Swift.
EISENBERG: Yeah, that's right.
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LAMBERT: Thanks for the Kanye effect.
EISENBERG: No problem. OK. At one point, this "Twilight" star was the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood. Team Jacob fans rejoiced when he...
LAMBERT: Taylor Lautner.
EISENBERG: Yes.
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EISENBERG: This Colombian singer says she taught herself English by listening to Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. She made waves with her 2009 release, "She Wolf."
LAMBERT: Shakira.
EISENBERG: That's right.
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LAMBERT: Oh, I like this game now.
EISENBERG: Yeah 'cause you're doing great. I don't even have to finish it. I was going to finish it with her hips don't lie, but you didn't need it.
LAMBERT: No.
EISENBERG: No.
LAMBERT: They didn't.
EISENBERG: This is your final question. This band's frontman once described you, Adam Lambert, as pretty bad ass for hitting high notes. He appeared on the cover with bandmates Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool promoting their rock opera album "21st Century Breakdown." OK. Does "American Idiot" mean anything to you?
LAMBERT: Oh, Green Day.
EISENBERG: That's right. That is correct. You are right.
LAMBERT: Sorry. He was like 1 of like 12 other guys that were wearing guyliner (ph) in 2009, coined guyliner.
EISENBERG: Guyliner.
LAMBERT: It's eyeliner.
EISENBERG: I know. It's just eyeliner.
EISENBERG: They have to do that to everything, right? Well, congratulations, Adam. You got them all right.
LAMBERT: Yeah.
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EISENBERG: So you won a Rubik's Cube for listener Patty Humphreys.
LAMBERT: Yay.
EISENBERG: Give it up for Adam Lambert, everybody.
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EISENBERG: You can catch Adam and Queen in 2019 performing all across North America. Adam Lambert, everybody.
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EISENBERG: Want our next special guest to play for you? Follow ASK ME ANOTHER on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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