Adam Lambert decided to audition for ‘American Idol’ after tripping on acid at a music festival.
Adam Lambert decided to audition for American Idol after getting high on acid
The 42-year-old singer rose to fame in 2009 after finishing as runner-up on the eighth season of ‘American Idol’ but admitted it never would have happened if he hadn’t taken drugs at Burning Man and experiencing an epiphany.
He told Jamie Laing’s ‘Great Company’ podcast: “I tripped on acid and had this amazing experience where I saw my fear in front of me … as a physical manifestation.
“I was in the desert and heard the voice of some higher power, and it was like ‘Kick it away’, and I kicked it away, and I saw it shoot across the floor.
“[I decided] I’m gonna say yes to everything, I’m gonna put my eggs in more than one basket, I just gotta go for it.”
Adam finished the season as runner-up to Kris Allen but went on to forge a hugely successful career for himself.
Meanwhile, Adam previously admitted he wasn’t sure he would “be able to do” ‘American Idol’ because he didn’t think other homosexual contestants had been “taken seriously”.
In a video profile with Them, he said: “I started pretty early kind of understanding that I was probably different than the other boys in school.
“I don’t think it really clicked for me until I was in about sixth grade. And I started going, ‘Oh, Ok. Got it.’ Like this is how I’m wired.
“I never thought that it was a show that I’d be able to do… I’m gay, which never seemed to really land very well in that show.
“I mean, there definitely were a few, but they all kind of got not taken seriously.”
During American Idol’s eighth season, photos of Adam kissing an ex began to circulate online, but he revealed the show’s publicist was “so great” at dealing with it.
He added: “Then the publicist for the show had called me before to say, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you saw this.’
“And I said, ‘Yeah, I saw it.’ And she was so great. She was like, ‘Well, how do you wanna deal with it?’
“And so I just said to a reporter, I’m like, ‘Yeah. That’s me.’ That’s all I said.
“I think I lost some fans at that point, but I always said to myself, ‘Well, those aren’t the fans I want anyway.’ “
