Interesting:
What barriers did Adam face?
1. Many US Radio stations would not play music by out gay artists from the late 1970's until 2009 -- WWFM. There was a brief moment in the 1970's when Sylvester and the Village People got US Top 40 airplay but that ended in 1978.
k.d. lang came out in 92; received a Grammy for her song Constant Craving, which peaked at #22 on Pop radio
Melissa Etheridge came out in 93, 5 top 10 pop songs after coming out and 3 others that were in the top 40 on pop
now the argument could be made that they are female so it's different but to say that radio stopped playing openly gay artists in 1978 just isn't accurate.
The reference here is to male artists - gay, not gay and lesbian. Just as the sexual politics between male and female straight singers are obvious, the ones applying to this discussion for a gay man are even more complicated. So, if we're going to talk accuracy, I didn't have any problems understanding the intent of Q3's post. The whole 'drama' after the AMAs very clearly showed the differences in sexual politics between men and women (straight and gay).
2. Without Idol, Adam would never have gotten a label deal -- the first out gay artist signed to a major label was Jobrath (signed by Electra in 1972), the second was Adam Lambert (signed by RCA in 2009). Labels would not sign gay artists because they "knew" they would not get airplay.
The same could be said for Kelly Clarkson because she wasn't thin enough or pretty enough. Labels sign people for various reasons, including marketability. That was what was so great about Idol in the beginning. People who labels wouldn't look at for one reason or another had a shot.
This is a logical fallacy. And disingenuous. The degree of difficulty in marketing a non-cookie cutter female who has talent is higher, but it has a blueprint. There is none for an out gay male.
3. He was walking down a path no one had done before -- how to be gay and achieve mainstream success and still be Adam. He stumbled a couple of times but he mostly did just fine. Even Aaron Hichlin agrees with me that Adam was the first -- it was the point of his open letter. "You are the first, don't blow it."
I agree but I don't see that necessarily as a barrier. Barriers are things that are seen as insurmountable but Adam navigated that situation with grace and came out better in the end IMO. In fact, I might even say it helped him a bit. It gave him a higher profile and more media attention because he was the first and people were curious. The AMAs certainly benefited him internationally, if not in the States.
It is a barrier - see point 2. A huge one. People overcome barriers all the time and when they do it doesn't mean it wasn't a barrier in the first place. His personal commentary after the AMAs that he might have just fatally damaged his career should tell you what was at stake and what barriers he was having to overcome.Marketability is based on using tried and proven formulas. What's the formula with Adam. You only have to look at the (in my view unseemly) discussions on this site about how Adam needs to contort (and at times betray) himself to fit the mould, usually disguised as 'toning down' something. Anything controversial can give someone a higher profile - but it is a crapshoot whether that turns out to be favourable or not. It helped him, because he handled it bravely and with grace.
4. He released music that was actually gay. Even on FYE, Fever has the proper pronouns for a gay male singer. This was really something no one had done before. Usually, they came up with cover storys -- "Killer Queen" is about a high-class call girl.
Sophie B. Hawkins: Damn, I wish I was your Lover released in 1992
Lyric:
I sat on a mountainside with peace of mind
And I lay by the ocean making love to her with visions clear
Walked for days with no one near
And I return as chained and bound to you
See above. The point is you couldn't find any lyrics by a gay male out popstar to quote.
5. He was the first out gay solo artist at the start of his career to have a Top 10 hit. (With all due respect to Sam Smith, MOMM and SWM were hits before he came out. When promoting these songs he showed up at events with female dates, did those hotel room photos, etc.)
True and very awesome!!
I will remind anyone who says something about Sam Smith showing up with female dates that 9 out of 10 times Adam has a girl with him, including but not limited to Katy Perry at the Michael Jackson premiere. Sometimes girls are just more fun to get dressed up and go out with.
Yes. The classic stereotype of the gay best friend! And readily consumed in mass media TV because it portrays the 'safe gay'.
6. He performed in countries where being gay is illegal and in Russia with a bomb threat.
What countries has he performed in that being gay is illegal? and in Russia straight performers get bomb threats, I don't know that I would call that a barrier or unique to Adam per se.
That it happens to others in a different context doesn't diminish the context for gay males. Barriers for all.
7. For all the bashing I have done of RCA, I give them credit for their support of Adam and his music in 2009-2010. This only happened because Adam has a label who supported him. HOWEVER, I think that RCA/19 did try to make Adam seem bi-ish with all that Ke$ha stuff and the Details mag cover was probably not the best idea for Adam to do strategically. It is all water under
Adam had a hand in that stuff too. He is the one who made out with Kesha and I doubt she was the first girl he made out with, as he admitted himself. The Details shoot was cool but he flip roles...it put him in a heteronormal situation and delved into the phenomenon of straight females finding a gay man so sexy. I thought that was brilliant, especially the article in question.
Just a general comment - given the consistency in Adam's behaviour over the years, and his nature I find it hard to believe he would do anything under duress - and I think his (very limited) references to bi-curious were genuine. I cannot image Adam kissing Kesha for any reason other than he wanted to. I think his nature is honest and that he has been. I didn't like the Details images simply because it was the typical male magazine 'porn' view of women .... just with Adam cut and pasted into the stereotype. Can't remember the article itself.