Adam Lambert is by far one of the most successful
American Idol alums alumni in the show's history. Although he came in second to Kris Allen on Season
8, he still managed to snag a recording contract, become Queen's new frontman, and eventually
build up an estimated net worth of $30 million. As American Idol creator Simon Fuller
told Rolling Stone back in 2009, Lambert's talent was undeniable
from the start. Fuller said, "He's like Marc Bolan meets Bowie, with a touch
of Freddie Mercury and the sexiness of Prince." When Lambert joined Queen in 2011, he received similar praise from lead
guitarist Brian May who told Yahoo!, "Adam has a real gift from God. That voice is a
voice in a billion, and nobody has that range, nobody that I've ever worked with." "That's right. I'm that guy." But even with those stunning industry reviews,
not everyone has been so enamored with the star. In 2011, Adam Levine shaded Lambert
in a way that would have made Mariah Carey, of the "I don't know her" diss, very
proud. During The Voice semifinals, after Nakia performed Lambert's hit single "Whataya
Want From Me," the Maroon 5 frontman claimed, "I'm actually not familiar with that
song, but you just forced me to like it." Further digging the alleged knife
into the wound, Levine added, "You probably sang it better than
the person that sang it originally." Yikes. While Lambert's fans were understandably
outraged, the Idol alum alumnus took the comment in stride, tweeting about Nakia's
killer performance and quipping, "I think Adam might know who I am after this
next album. Get ready for me Levine…There is NO reason to be angry. Thanks for
being protective but it's all good." As for Levine, he took to Twitter
to say "Sorry Not Sorry," writing, "I had honestly never heard that
song before. I thought that Nakia made me like a song that would have
otherwise fallen flat. I'm NOT sorry." Revisiting the shade on a 2017
episode of Watch What Happens Live, Lambert told Andy Cohen that the
comment was actually what he called "high shade," inferring that of course
Levine would know who he is, explaining, "Our initials are the same. People
call me Adam Levine all the time." "I was like, 'How, Adam?!'" But, this wasn't his only competitive-singing
beef. Finale night is when producers pull out all the stops on American Idol, and for Lambert, that
meant performing with KISS. He told Rolling Stone, "I was so excited. I was like, 'I'm going
to glue rhinestones on my eyelids, b----!'" The praise was mutual. Kiss bassist and singer
Gene Simmons told Extra that Lambert was quote, "fantastic," adding that he
could tour with them anytime. But that changed just a few weeks later
following Lambert's public coming out in his 2009 Rolling Stone cover
story. Simmons told AOL Television, "[Adam is] enormously talented, best talent
American Idol has had, but I think he killed his career because now conversation is not about his
talent but about his sexual preference…He's done." In 2017, Lambert was asked about Simmons'
comments on Watch What Happens Live and didn't have any problem
shading the Kiss star, adding, "He kind of reminds me of, like,
Donald Trump's track record. You know, it's like, one minute this,
one minute that, like, contradicting." "He's really friendly." While Simmons' seemingly homophobic
comment was obviously off the mark, Lambert's star just continued to rise.
In 2009, Idol Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken didn't mince words about his Season 8 counterpart. "You know, honestly, it's a very different
show now. It's a very different experience." Describing Lambert's finale performance,
Aiken told a fan, via his website, "I happened to turn it [on] during the minute
that Adam Lambert was singing 'Ring of Fire' and, at that moment, thought my ears
would bleed…I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever
folks told me that they liked him." Queerty called the Idol alum "bitter,"
and following a slew of negative feedback, Aiken penned a second blog post in
which he issued a non-apology, writing, "I suppose I should clarify and
even retract some of what I wrote…I hope no one actually believed that blood truly
poured forth from my ears when I heard him. I obviously meant it as a colorful statement
to imply that I did not enjoy what I heard." Yeah. We got it the first time, Clay. Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about
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