Singer Adam Lambert has come out in praise of rapper Lil Nas X following the latter’s much-discussed BET Awards show performance that saw him kiss another man. Lambert also spoke about his own history trying tow integrate queer themes into his work as a pop star, and the backlash he endured.
“I thought it was hot,” Lambert said of Lil Nas X’s performance, in an interview with Billboard. “I mean, he’s really giving it to us. I think he is definitely like the gay pop star that is 2021 — he’s bold, he’s controversial, he’s pushing boundaries. That’s what we want our pop stars to do. It’s just taken this long to have it be a gay one.”
“He’s so grounded and firm in who he is and what he’s about, he won’t apologize to anybody,” Lambert elaborated. “What I love right now with Lil Nas is we need him to be outspoken about it. He is in a position where that works for him, and he’s using it. In the music industry, it’s like, ‘How many streams do you have, how many sales, what position is it on radio?’ Once you hit a certain point, you get more leeway, you get more credibility; the industry gives you a longer leash, so to speak. And I feel like one of the great things about Lil Nas is when you look at ‘Old Town Road,’ you see that this massive worldwide hit helped give him some freedom to make some statements and to make some real art. Timing is everything.”
Related: Madonna, who is straight, demands credit for Lil Nas X’s gay kiss and people are not having it
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Lambert speaks from experience. Back in 2009, he made headlines for a performance of his song “For Your Entertainment” at the American Music Awards, in which he kissed his male keyboard player. The backlash came swift, and hard.
“I was pulled off of ABC for a little while,” he recalled. “They were freaked out, they had Christian parent groups writing in, the censors were freaked out. The thing I found so funny was like, ‘Censors? It’s a kiss. When was that indecent?'”
Lambert later did an interview with the ABC morning show Good Morning America to defend his performance. He wasn’t prepared for the near-hostility of the questions.
“They showed a clip, trying to draw a comparison to Madonna kissing Britney and Christina at the VMAs a couple years before that. So they showed a clip of that moment, and then right afterward, they cut to clip of my performance the night before of me kissing a guy onstage, and they had censored our mouths,” he remembers. “I just remember thinking that was the biggest slap in the face — it’s like, that proved my point. It’s so crazy to me that this double standard was so blatant and obvious, where two women kissing was not indecent, but two men kissing was.”
Fortunately, for Lambert, he sees signs of progress. “Two men kissing is sort of old news,” he joked. “Of course, there’s still a lot of problems, and there’s still a lot of work to be done, but I think for a lot of people, we’ve moved past the shock and the alien nature of seeing gay representation in action. We are in a very divided, polarized time, but I feel we are on the positive side of that polarity. There is so much goodwill for someone like [Lil Nas X], and I’m just happy to be able to have the perspective to appreciate it.”
Since his 2009 AMA performance, Adam Lambert has enjoyed much career success. His albums Tresspassing, The Original High and Velvet all earned him positive notice and sold well. Tours for each album also became major draws. In addition to his solo work, Lambert also became the lead singer of the reformed band Queen, taking the place of original singer Freddie Mercury. Lambert has also enjoyed wide praise for his philanthropic efforts, especially in the area of LGBTQ activism.
Donston
A big part of the reason it was even “controversial” or “buzzed about” is because it was a black person on a “black show”. Also, he employed homo-eroticism/romanticism into African aesthetics. These basic ass white entertainers don’t seem to get it.
WashDrySpin
Everything you said is the TRUTH
armandov
That may be true but the black community is far more Anti gay than any other community due to their obsession with the church. Any city, any state – it’s simply the truth
jaleoman
Armandov……. The black community is homophobic but I think the Hispanic community is even more. They have given so much hell to Ricky for being openly gay, for having and raising children as a gay parent and recently for show photos with his husband hugging and kissing.
Kevan1
@ Donston and Wash Dry Spin. Reverse racism. “Basic white entertainers”. Why do you have to bring race into this. We as the LGBTQAIQ+ people need to support one another not draw more lines between us. Please get it together and try to bring us together and not apart as a community. Otherwise, you are no better than Trump and his ilk.
GameBoy
His fans are very cringe raving & ranting, how’s he’s opened for more successful LGBTQ artists like Sam Smith, Troye Sivan and Lil Nas X, like dude’s AMA performance is pretty cringe and utter disaster to watch…
Donston
It was a terrible and awkward performance. That’s what most people were talking about after seeing it, not the same-sex kiss. But indeed, his fans are a rather odd bunch.
Smith David
@Donston…I have to agree with you about the performance. However, I am going to give him some grace. After all, he’s still considered a “rapper” who may be trending towards POP. It will take some time for him to get his bearings. Still, this is a moment for him and we should be proud of the progress.
Donston
No, sweetie, I was talking about Adam’s AMA performance being terrible and awkward. That was the main reason it was tending, not because of the dude kissing. Lil Nas X’s performance wasn’t anything legit on point, but it was at least smooth and a decent spectacle.
thisisnotreal
As someone who has a clear bias against adam lambert (never liked him as a person) even I have to give him props for talking about the situation with nas and giving him credit and kudos without trying to make the situation about him and his own gay kiss he had years before.
Fahd
To me, what is special about the Lil Nas X kiss is that it was between two gay men of color on a BET award show. I’ve always perceived homophobia as profound in the African American community. Hence, the Lil Nas X kiss, especially within the Egyptian theme of the production number, was courageous and groundbreaking.
jaleoman
I think Adam Lambert did a good job, Lil Nass too and Ricky Martin have done an amazing job in the the Hispanic being the first major Latin superstar to ever come out. He has been such a huge figure in the gay movement in Latin America.
Kangol2
I appreciate Adam Lambert’s comments. He was and is a pioneer, as are other figures like Boy George, etc. He sees the value of what Lil Nas X did and acknowledges it, and doesn’t make it all about himself, though as he and others have pointed out, he received a furious backlash for his gay kiss and for being openly gay as a pop performer, including from mainstream news media organizations like ABC. That wasn’t that long ago!
BoomerMyles
Let’s not forget Adam’s stunning performance of Believe at the Kennedy Center Honors for Cher.