Adam Lambert was thrilled by the stage at an early age, appearing in local musicals including "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Grease" and "Chess."

Lambert first stepped into the national spotlight in 2009, when he became a finalist on the eighth season of the popular vocal competition show "American Idol." His performance of Gary Jules's 2001 arrangement of "Mad World" earned a standing ovation from the show's harshest critic, Simon Cowell. Lambert's vocal range, along with his jet-black hair and heavy mascara, earned him comparisons to glam rockers like Freddie Mercury and Gene Simmons.

Lambert and two other contestants, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen, were the only finalists of Season 8 who were never ranked in the bottom three. Lambert was considered a front-runner in the competition, but was later beaten by dark horse candidate Kris Allen.

Despite his "American Idol" loss, Lambert's debut album, For Your Entertainment, was a huge success, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2010, Lambert was nominated for his first Grammy Award, for his hit "Whataya Want From Me."

In May 2012, Lambert released his second studio album, Trespassing, which met with wide acclaim; Trespassing landed at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, and more than 100,000 copies of the album were sold by June 2012.

In early 2012, media reports began to circulate about Lambert teaming up with Queen to perform a summer concert series. The speculation soon proved to be true, and the pop star began performing with Queen — including guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor — in Europe in June, as part of a tour to honor the late Freddie Mercury and raise money for organizations dedicated to AIDS awareness. Following shows in Ukraine and Moscow, Lambert sang with Queen in Wroclaw, Poland, and gave several London performances with the band throughout July 2012.

"Glee's" co-creator Ryan Murphy announced in 2013 that Lambert would join the cast of the fifth season of the Fox TV series. Lambert appeared in five episodes.

Lambert's third album, "The Original High," was released June 2015.

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