American Idol & Voice Of Queen On The Dark Side Of Fame | Adam Lambert
David Begnaud
260,390 views
Adam Lambert was 13, a theater kid in conservative North County San Diego, trying on his mother's makeup after school, when he started working with a voice teacher named Lynne Broyles. She had fierce energy and impeccable taste. She introduced him to Sondheim, to cabaret, to an entire gay cultural lexicon — without ever naming it as such — and gave him a room where he didn't have to explain himself.
Years later he quit a job in Wicked to audition for American Idol with no guarantee of anything. Then came the 2009 AMAs, where he kissed a man on live television the night before his first single dropped, got pulled from Good Morning America after ABC threatened to sue, and understood for the first time that his career was going to be about more than the music. In this conversation with David Begnaud, he talks about the shame that arrived only after the fame did — about spending a decade in an LA bubble and then meeting mainstream American homophobia head-on. About fronting Queen for ten years, playing Rock in Rio and the steps of Buckingham Palace, and what proximity to Brian May and Roger Taylor teaches you by osmosis. About six months on Broadway as the Emcee in Cabaret, and bringing Lynne to see it. And about why, seventeen years in, he's finished being polite about what he wants.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
00:00:00 Intro: The Voice Teacher Who Saw the Queen in Him
00:01:23 The Instant Connection: When Humor Became the Language
00:05:22 The Loud, Verbal Kid Who Preferred Adults
00:08:52 Growing Up Different in Conservative San Diego
00:11:40 The Anger Management Lessons and Counting to Ten
00:14:05 Middle School Hell: When the Teachers Liked You Wasn't Cool Anymore
00:15:39 Metropolitan Educational Theater: Learning Discipline Through Performance
00:17:30 Lynne's Gift: Sondheim, Cabaret, and the Gay Cultural Lexicon
00:18:04 The Unspoken Understanding: I Think She Knew I Was Gay
00:26:51 The American Idol Audition: Quitting Wicked for a Shot
00:37:45 The AMA Kiss That Changed Everything
00:45:37 Coming Out on Rolling Stone: The Gay Label and Double Standards
00:35:49 Imposter Syndrome and Finding My Voice
00:53:53 Ten Years with Queen: Pinch Me Moments and Learning from Legends
01:02:29 The Five-Year Relationship: Finding Work-Life Balance
00:50:03 The New Album ADAM: Accepting All of Yourself
01:10:42 Broadway Cabaret: The Full Circle Moment with Lynne
01:14:13 The Evolution of LGBTQ Visibility: Then vs Now
01:16:50 Feel Something Foundation: Giving Back to Queer Youth
01:20:42 Give Me My Flowers: It's My Turn
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Adam Lambert
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: Instagram: believedpodcast
20 Comments
American Idol & Voice Of Queen On The Dark Side Of Fame | Adam Lambert
David Begnaud
260,390 views
Adam Lambert was 13, a theater kid in conservative North County San Diego, trying on his mother's makeup after school, when he started working with a voice teacher named Lynne Broyles. She had fierce energy and impeccable taste. She introduced him to Sondheim, to cabaret, to an entire gay cultural lexicon — without ever naming it as such — and gave him a room where he didn't have to explain himself.
Years later he quit a job in Wicked to audition for American Idol with no guarantee of anything. Then came the 2009 AMAs, where he kissed a man on live television the night before his first single dropped, got pulled from Good Morning America after ABC threatened to sue, and understood for the first time that his career was going to be about more than the music. In this conversation with David Begnaud, he talks about the shame that arrived only after the fame did — about spending a decade in an LA bubble and then meeting mainstream American homophobia head-on. About fronting Queen for ten years, playing Rock in Rio and the steps of Buckingham Palace, and what proximity to Brian May and Roger Taylor teaches you by osmosis. About six months on Broadway as the Emcee in Cabaret, and bringing Lynne to see it. And about why, seventeen years in, he's finished being polite about what he wants.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
00:00:00 Intro: The Voice Teacher Who Saw the Queen in Him
00:01:23 The Instant Connection: When Humor Became the Language
00:05:22 The Loud, Verbal Kid Who Preferred Adults
00:08:52 Growing Up Different in Conservative San Diego
00:11:40 The Anger Management Lessons and Counting to Ten
00:14:05 Middle School Hell: When the Teachers Liked You Wasn't Cool Anymore
00:15:39 Metropolitan Educational Theater: Learning Discipline Through Performance
00:17:30 Lynne's Gift: Sondheim, Cabaret, and the Gay Cultural Lexicon
00:18:04 The Unspoken Understanding: I Think She Knew I Was Gay
00:26:51 The American Idol Audition: Quitting Wicked for a Shot
00:37:45 The AMA Kiss That Changed Everything
00:45:37 Coming Out on Rolling Stone: The Gay Label and Double Standards
00:35:49 Imposter Syndrome and Finding My Voice
00:53:53 Ten Years with Queen: Pinch Me Moments and Learning from Legends
01:02:29 The Five-Year Relationship: Finding Work-Life Balance
00:50:03 The New Album ADAM: Accepting All of Yourself
01:10:42 Broadway Cabaret: The Full Circle Moment with Lynne
01:14:13 The Evolution of LGBTQ Visibility: Then vs Now
01:16:50 Feel Something Foundation: Giving Back to Queer Youth
01:20:42 Give Me My Flowers: It's My Turn
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Adam Lambert
Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: Instagram: believedpodcast