Best known for a television talent show, and for singing Queen covers to geriatrics at the Oscars, Adam Lambert has now lightly insulted the Queen of Pop.
In an interview with The Independent, Lambert says Madonna is one of his idols, but questions if the flack she gets these days has anything to do with her being a sexualized 60-year-old, or her larger-than-life personality:
‘’I’m a long-time Madonna fan for sure – but here’s my question: does she? Or is she getting a pushback because of the music she’s making?’‘
”I love that she reinvents herself. I love her, and I think she’s brilliant. And I do think she’s pissed upon a bit, but I don’t think it’s because she’s a strong sexual woman.”
‘‘I think it’s because she’s making the music of 2019 that doesn’t fall quite in line with her legacy, perhaps.”
Look, Madame X is far from a perfect record, but it’s definitely a good one, sometimes downright brilliant. Songs like “Medellín” and “Crazy” are probably as good or better than anything Lambert has done or ever will do. He’s a singer with a few albums under his belt, and he didn’t write or co-write a big chunk of the songs on his records. This criticism of Madonna, even softened with qualifiers like “I love her,” “She’s an icon OMG” and stuff like that, is misjudged, disproportionate, and tacky. Right now, his most popular gig is with Queen: for all intents and purposes, a cover band. Madonna’s pop-music legacy, on the other hand, is all but unmatched. Her new record is experimental, risky, critically flawed in short measures, and mostly quite good. She has a writing credit on every song, as has been the case for most of her career.
And of course some of the criticism she gets is because she’s a sexualized 60-year-old woman. It isn’t fair for a younger man to comment on that.
For more on this, check out The Independent.
What are your thoughts on this whole thing? Let us know in the comments.
This is the opinion of one of the contributing writers of Instinct Magazine and may not reflect the opinion of other writers or the magazine.
You’re an idiot. He’s actually friends with Madonna – his old friend and first guitarist Monte Pitman was HER guitarist and husbands/her guitar teacher. Fool.
Well said!
Another diss from a gay “journalist” about Adam’s career & music…too bad he can’t even understand that Adam was talking about the push back from FANS when Madonna tried for a twist in her music. Queen is not a cover band, btw.
Very well said,, I couldn’t agree more!
I don’t care for Lambert and I love Madonna, but Madame X is her worst album. I can’t believe she released new music with lyrics that even 6-grader would be criticised for. And the worst of all is her dancing on dead bodies in God Control. She’s absolutely lost her mind. These days I feel ashamed for her and I have been a fan for 30 years.
I have read the article refrenced here and found Adam’s comments to be more in defense of Madonna than critical. I have followed Adam for 10 years and find him to be polite and respectful towards others – regardless of AGE, race, sexual orientation, etc. And Queen is not a cover band, Queen is QUEEN. Adam has earned his place as their current frontman due to his exceptional voice, stage presence and spirit.
Let’s get something straight here, having LEGENDS like Brian May and Roger Taylor hardly equates to a “cover band”, that’s simply ludicrous.
Also, I grew up liking Madonna. I still do, but I stay bemused at how so many predictable Queens worship at the altar of Madonna like a deity. She’s just a smart and talented bitch whose had a great career.
Spend time volunteering at an animal rescue or homeless shelter and less time worrying about how Saint Madonna requires defending.
Adam expressed his opinion about the pushback she’s receiving ( similar to pushback he’s also getting from some fans about his new music), NOT about her actual music. DUH. Trashed someone for no reason.
Btw, Madonna invited Adam to her exclusive Oscars after-party, can you say the same?
Just admit that you despise Adam and his music and have done with it. What you’ve said about him in this piece is 1000 times worse than his tactful and truthful answer to the question posed to him about Madonna. She’s an icon of pop music, but stole/borrowed from everyone before her (as does everyone else) and her voice has never been anything but marginal. I also don’t believe the Oscar audience was full of geriatrics – but if it were there would be nothing wrong with that!
Adam Lambert is the last one to diss another musical artist. He’s dealt with it his entire music career from not only the music industry dismissing him for being on a reality show to the media who have yet to pull their heads out of the sand and really LISTEN to the man. And, Samuel, I don’t have a clue where you’ve been existing except maybe under a rock but QUEEN is NOT a cover band, You have highly insulted, not only Adam Lambert but the GREAT LEGENDS of rock music, Dr. Brian May and Roger Taylor. .I have liked Madonna’s music in the past but just not some of her updated music. Does that put me in the same box as Adam Lambert?? If so, then gladly throw me in there with him cuz the man is highly intelligent and knows music much better than you’ll ever hope to do so. And if the GLAMBERTS don’t hang you out to dry consider yourself lucky only because Adam Lambert taught us how to respect others even if we tend not to agree with what they do in their music careers. BTW didn’t your mama ever teach you that not everyone is gonna like the same things that you do so get over it, dude.
Soy Colombiana no me gusta para nada la música de Maluma, no estoy diciendo con esto que no me gusta Maluma, no lo conozco, pero n ome gusta Medcellín pero a estas alturas en que Madonna es la reina del Pop puede hacer lo que quiera y seguro que muchos de sus seguidores la van a seguir así haga algo que no les guste. Por que siempre tienen que sacar de contexto las declaraciones de cualquier artista, en este Caso Adam Lambert y para que lo sepas si ha escrito y co-escrito varias de sus canciones incluyendo el último disco que esta por salir en septiembre, ya estamos escuchando tres de sus canciones nuevas y es el actual líder de Queen así no lo creas lleva 8 años con ellos como para que minimises la importancia de eso. No creo que este diciendo nada fuera de lugar, el siempre ha manifestado su admiración por todas las divas de la música incluyendo a Madonna y Cher, dió su opinión porque puede hacerlo el la esta poyando por las criticas de algunos de sus fans o detractores como le ha sucedido a él. Esto es un pasquin y solo para darse publicidad, Suerte con esto. Como dicen el el primer ocmentairo, a la basura.
My “exactly this” was in support of the “anonymous” comment, not the article’s author. Author seems not bright enough to interpret Adam’s comment correctly!
Exactly this! He was supporting her musical experimentation! BTW, when a band plays their own music, it’s not a cover band! #Queen
Typo apology – I think we have heard him speak often and consistently enough to realize he wasn’t being dismissive, but just also highlighting another viewpoint.
I can see both sides here – I appreciate Adam’s candor about how people want to keep their favorite artists “in the past, in their old box” but he MIGHT be too rapidly dismissing the difficulties of being a sexual 60 year old woman. He doesn’t know, true.
I think we know have herd him speak often and consistently enough to realize he wasn’t being dismissive, but just also highlighting another viewpoint.
He KNOWS Madonna for a LONG TIME, dope. Monte Pittman was his bandmate decades ago, then his first guitarist after Idol AND Madonna’s guitarist and husband’s/her guitar teacher. FOR DECADES.
This appears to be a complete misinterpretation of what he said. Someone needs to re-read and retract. He seems to be saying that sometimes people get flack for going in a different direction from the music they used to do. He has experienced this himself. He is actually supporting her!
We hear music like we taste food. Think of an artist’s body of work like a buffet. You will most likely pass over some dishes and take seconds on other.
I LOVE Adam Lambert but usually don’t like the songs he and his team pick for singles to release. You all but make Adam out to be nothing, so why does his opinion even matter to you? Adam has a HUGE fan base who will probably come after you and you are sure to get plenty of clicks on your article. But I’m not sharing it and helping you out.
You’re guilty of dissing a musician, too, in the way you just described Adam. Pot, meet Kettle. #getalife
I wasn’t aware Adam had to be in love with everything Madonna does. Since when is Adam’s opinion so triggering? Like, get over it. He’s allowed to not someone’s music. Yes, even the Holy Madonna. Calm down.