The Music Industry Needs Artists Like Adam Lambert

Ready for some head-scratching news? Pop star Adam Lambert will be releasing a greatest hits album this May. I know what you're thinking: “Don’t you have to have, like, more than one hit in order to put out a greatest hits album? Isn’t he a little too young for this?” The answer to both questions is: apparently not!

Actually, as it turns out, Sony Legacy, the parent company of Lambert’s former record label RCA, is releasing The Very Best of Adam Lambert on May 27 on its own accord — we have no idea whether or not Lambert actually endorses or supports the project (my thought is...probably not). Lambert left RCA in July of 2013 because of, you guessed it, “creative differences.”

In a letter to The Hollywood Reporter, Lambert explained that RCA made it clear that the “only kind of release” they were “prepared to support” from the singer was a full-length ‘80s cover album. Understandably, Lambert wanted to continue making his own music, so he made the decision to walk away from his recording contract.

Lambert got his start as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. His debut album, 2009’s For Your Entertainment, was a major success and launched his worldwide hit single, “Whataya Want From Me.” Though his follow-up album, 2012’s Trespassing, wasn’t as big commercially, it did debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making Lambert the first openly gay male pop star to have a number-one album in the chart’s entire history. Now that is something to be proud of.

Sadly, aside from a minor recurring role on the fifth season of Glee, we haven’t really heard much from Lambert lately. We do know that he’ll be going on tour with Queen in June, which is pretty cool, and Billboard reports Tuesday that Lambert’s been “busy working on new music in Sweden” with pop producer Max Martin (“Whataya Want From Me”) — but how much longer is that going to take? It’s been almost two years since the release of Lambert’s last studio album — that’s a long time in the world of pop music. I worry that without the support of a major record label, he’s going to have a tough time getting his new material out into the world.

The fact is, the music industry desperately needs fearless, subversive artists like Lambert. Whether you like his music or not, you can’t deny that Lambert is an extremely talented, extremely brave musician who has consistently challenged things like homophobia and gender stereotypes throughout his career (especially with his live performances). I’m crossing my fingers that we wont’ have to wait too much longer for Lambert to make a proper comeback. He's an important artist to have around.