American Idol alum and pop singer Adam Lambert recently interviewed with the UK-based publication Metro, in promotion of Velvet, his fourth studio album and first solo release in five years that dropped on Friday.
Other things that came up including Lambert’s ongoing collaborative pairing with rock band Queen and his hopes that there’s a biopic on George Michael – even if he has to star in it.
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Queen was originally led by gay musician Freddie Mercury before he passed away in 1991. Since, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor have continued to record as Queen ‘plus’ the artist they’re currently collaborating with. For the last 9 years, that has been Lambert, who hopes the group can keep it going ‘forever’.
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“With Queen, I want to keep going as long as we can,” he told Metro‘s Alicia Adejobi. He explains that following in Mercury’s footsteps is an enormous task: “I was really more focused on…nodding to Freddie without copying him.”
Lambert’s approach seems to work with the band, as they have embarked on five world tours together. Lambert even made a cameo appearance in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), the biopic on Mercury’s life. Now, he’s got his eyes set on yet another biopic – that of George Michael, the late English rock star, who came out in 1998.
“I think that would be very interesting. That’d be cool, I just feel like, we don’t know that much about him. You know, to me, it would be great to kind of explore George’s life,” Lambert gushed.
Asked who he could envision portraying Michael, Lambert admitted he’d be able to “give it a go” – “Yeah, sign me up,” he said.
Lambert has experience with Michael’s discography, belting a rendition of Michael’s hit song “Faith” on ABC in 2016. Following Michael’s passing on Christmas Day of that year, Lambert delivered a tribute with “One More Try” and “Somebody to Love” at the Angel Awards 2017 gala, which honored Michael’s philanthropy.
A George Michael biopic would draw immediate comparisons to the aforementioned Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman (2019), which chronicled singer Elton John’s career. Both of those film’s lead roles went to straight men, and both received overall mixed criticism in their performances.
Whilst the films still collected many accolades throughout award season, having a gay lead actually played by a LGBTQ actor would already set such a biopic apart – if one was to ever come to fruition.
In regards to Velvet, which is a continuation of his 2019 EP Velvet: Side A, Lambert described this album as his most authentic and queer.
“When I started [releasing music] like a decade ago, it was very much a business of gatekeepers…you had to sort of play by a certain framework,” he explains.
“One of the great things now is we’re in a time where, because of streaming, you’re really having a direct line to your audience. And those certain social taboos are fading.”
While Lambert’s April shows in Las Vegas are postponed for now, you can now stream or buy Velvet everywhere.
