Adam Lambert has learned to find a "balance" between putting out art that is "commercially palatable" and staying true to himself.
Adam Lambert at LGBTQ youth centre Mosaic
The 'American Idol' alumni hosted a Q&A at LGBTQ youth centre Mosaic in London on Thursday (31.05.18), where he spoke about the challenges he faced as a gay man entering the pop business and how he felt like he had to "prove" himself.
Speaking at the special event, Adam was asked about the backlash he received early on in his career, to which he replied: "There have been moments early on, where I felt I needed to prove something, and make a point that wasn't necessarily a popular one. By principle, I believed in it - but then you have to balance it out, it's a business and I have to be palatable and commercial. I guess I had a struggle in finding the balance - but I don't have any regrets."
One particular example Adam can think of is the cover for his 2009 debut LP, 'For Your Entertainment', which showed the singer in makeup
Though his record label "worried" the artwork might not appeal to families, the 36-year-old star decided to go with it and he has no regrets about his artistic choice.
Adam - who now fronts British rock group Queen in the place of the late great frontman Freddie Mercury - said: "As an artist you have one side of you that is like this is me, this is my vision, this is my art.
"The minute you get into commercial pop music you're already compromising, because what you're trying to do is make something the majority of people will like.
"For example, my first album. I loved the album cover (made up, beautiful, glam picture), but my label were worried about how it was going to connect, because it had to go on sale in places like Walmart.
"Like how can you put that on the shelf and expect a regular mum and dad or kids, who watched you on 'American Idol' to connect with that and pick it up and feel comfortable. I understood that, but I loved the artwork, so I kept it as it was. It was a hard journey with that cover but I'm glad I made that decision."
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