The songwriter’s code dictates that you use your grief to create a hit.
Following the reportedly amicable end of his four-year relationship in mid-2025, Adam Lambert expressed the loneliness and fears that plague the breakup in the poignant piano ballad “Am I OK.”
As he worked with his songwriting team on a track for his new album Adam, American Pop
star, TV presenter and Queen singer was acutely aware of the inevitability that his ex, Oliver Gliese, would hear it. Or at least that’s what it’s about.
“Well, I was thinking about the other person the whole time (writing it),” Lambert tells Stellar.
“I wrote a few other songs that were personal and didn’t quite make the cut.
“I wanted to make sure that there was definitely some respect and some boundaries. I think I liked this song because it’s more about my side of the experience.
“But definitely out of respect for my ex, I wouldn’t want to post anything inappropriate.”
After the split, big changes in life followed. Lambert moved from Los Angeles, his home base since 2009.
to New York. He got a taste of life in the Big Apple after his Broadway debut in Cabaret, which ended in early 2025.
Queen, the beloved rock band that hired Lambert as frontman in 2011, is on an indefinite hiatus from performing as founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor retire from touring around the world to deal with health issues.
Released on Lambert’s independent More Is More label, Adam marks a return to his pop career after stints with Queen and Broadway. Making his own music again, without a committee of label executives offering data analysis on the hit potential of his works-in-progress, is the artist’s dream, and he describes his sixth studio album as a “little renaissance” that unites all his musical tribes.
“With this project, I knew so well what I wanted to do with it that I didn’t need anyone to weigh in creatively, who I didn’t ask to weigh in creatively, who wasn’t a real creative person, you know?” he explains.
“There’s a lot of compromise and negotiation and politics involved. I just wanted to make something that came from me, unfiltered.
“I got to work with people I really admired and wanted to work with. And no one was tightening their wallets or breathing down my neck,” he adds. “It gave me more confidence, more confidence in myself.”
Listen to the new episode of the Stellar podcast “Something to Talk About” below:
“THIS IS FANTASY PLAYING”
Lambert burst onto the world stage as a runner-up on American Idol in 2009, building a fan base with his gifted multi-octave vocals and bold blend of dance-pop.
and hard rock pomposity.
He was 27 years old at the time and had a glamorous image, honed by his early years in musical theater, that delighted fans but horrified music industry gatekeepers who were just 17 years old.
years ago, people were still trying to keep queer artists a secret to appease conservative audiences.
Lambert didn’t like it. At the 2009 American Music Awards, while performing his hit “For Your Entertainment,” he kissed his keyboard player and grabbed another musician’s crotch—and all hell broke loose.
His scheduled appearances on popular television shows such as Good Morning America were canceled, and his then-record label shelved plans to promote the song as the next single from his debut album.
At the time, the artist dismissed the outrage, pointing out the double standard when female pop stars have been doing the same thing for years; Madonna kissed Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I LOVE THE FANS IN AUSTRALIA”
Fast forward to 2026: Lambert, now 44, features sexually charged songs like “Eat U Alive” and “Under The Rhythm” on his new album, and no one bats an eyelid.
“The funny thing is, most people who know me well know that I’m not nearly as aggressive as I am on some of these songs,” he tells Stellar.
“For example, it’s a fantasy playing in my head that I put into a song.
“I very rarely talk to people like that. Even if I’m hitting on someone or I’m with someone, I’m much softer. But music is a safe space. It’s where I can be another version of myself or live out these fantasies.”
Lambert’s gentle irony ironically comes to the fore on one of the album’s standout rock tracks; The pulsating beats on “Porcelain” were inspired by his teenage obsession with American rock band Nine Inch Nails. The song, featuring Chinese singer and rapper Lexi Liu, who was his musical partner on the Chinese reality competition Singer in 2024, touches on toxic masculinity in both mainstream and queer culture.
“It’s about what it means to be a man,” he explains. “Regardless of their sexual orientation, society looks at men in a certain way and expects them to behave in a way that is limiting.
“A lot of men have felt this pressure. It either comes from their parents or friends, or there are certain patterns of behavior that are reinforced. It would be great if the reinforcement was reinforced by chivalry or something like that – that would be wonderful,” he adds.
“(But) the toxic part is that it’s aggressive behavior, bullying, shaming and humiliating people; here is the result of this.
“This song is part of my conversation, especially when it comes to a man who is maybe more in touch with the feminine side or isn’t 100 percent super masculine – how that’s always seen as a negative thing even in the queer community. Damn it!”
It’s been over a decade since Lambert toured as a solo artist with his last show.
in Australia for the Sydney Mardi Gras party in 2024, so he hopes to return to showcase his new work. “I love Australia and I love the fans there. I love the culture,” he says. “So I hope to contact you very soon.”
Adam (More Is More) is out now.