Let’s enjoy some Adam Lambert performances on the “American Idol” alum’s 42nd birthday!

Wishing a happy 42nd birthday to Adam Lambert!

Hard to believe it’s been more than 15 years since Adam burst onto the scene on American Idol and finished as the most successful runner-up in the show’s history (sorry Clay Aiken and Katherine McPhee!).

I’ll always appreciate the fact that Adam came out publicly as a gay man after the show ended in a Rolling Stone cover story. What a powerful statement to the world and to young kids out there who watched the show.

We all know what’s happened to Adam since then. The solo albums For Your Entertainment, Trespassing, and The Original High, a Grammy nomination for the single Whataya Want from Me, and more than 3 million albums and 5 million singles sold worldwide. He released Velvet in 2020 along with Live Around the World with Queen.

When Trespassing premiered at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, Adam became the first openly gay artist to top the album charts. Elton John and Barry Manilow were not out when they premiered at number one.

And, of course, Adam has juggled his solo career with a very successful collaboration with rock band Queen as lead vocalist for Queen + Adam Lambert since 2011, culminating in a successful worldwide tour that began in 2014 and is still going strong. Lambert and Queen were the first rock band to open the Oscars with an “explosive” performance of two classic Queen songs in 2019 that earned a standing ovation.

But Adam’s power as a solo performer was never more apparent than in December 2018 when he performed a stupendous version of Believe for Cher at the Kennedy Center Honors that was one for the ages (see video below). I was thrilled when he released it as a single in late 2019.

Can’t wait to see what Adam has in store for us next. When you have such talent and vision and drive, anything is possible.