Adam Lambert has been here ~for your entertainment~ since 2009. The singer rose to fame that year when he became the runner-up on American Idol season 8. Though he didn’t win the competition, Adam remained popular with fans of the show, which helped him launch a successful solo career. He has built up a multimillion-dollar net worth after multiple albums, tours with Queen and a recent Broadway debut.
What Is Adam Lambert’s Net Worth?
Adam has a net worth of $45 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
How Does Adam Lambert Earn Money?
Adam’s music career began when he was 19 years old. He worked as a cruise ship performer for 10 months before heading to California, where he performed light opera. He signed with a manager at 21 years old and was cast in a European tour of Hair. Adam continued to perform in the theater world until his big break on Idol.
The “Whataya Want From Me” singer auditioned for American Idol season 8 in San Francisco in 2009. Though judge Simon Cowell feared that he was too theatrical, judge Randy Jackson thought Adam had a “current” sound to his voice. Later in the season, Simon gave Adam a standing ovation for his rendition of “Mad World” — the only standing ovation the notoriously critical judge ever gave during his 10 years in the singing competition.
After Idol, Adam released his first solo album, For Your Entertainment, in November 2009. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 198,000 copies in the U.S. during its first week. The album contained his highest-peaking single, “Whattaya Want From Me,” which reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned Adam a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Adam released four additional solo studio albums. His latest, High Drama, was released in February 2023. The “Ghost Town” singer also embarked on five solo tours.
In addition to his solo career, Adam started touring with Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen in June 2014 as Queen + Adam Lambert. Together, the group has completed five successful tours.
Adam has also dabbled in acting, having appeared in Pretty Little Liars, Glee and more.
Where Is Adam Lambert Today After ‘American Idol’?
Most recently, Adam made his Broadway debut as Emcee in Cabaret at the August Wilson Theatre in September 2024. His last show will take place on March 29, 2025.
“I was doing theater all the way up until I auditioned for American Idol. I was 28 when I did American Idol. Theater was sort of the trajectory I was on. And I wasn’t in New York, I was in L.A. doing theater, and there’s not a lot there — but I was doing what I could find,” he told Paper Magazine. “And I always thought, ‘Oh, one of these days I’m going to move to New York. One of these days when I have the right gig, I’m going.’ And I was waiting for something to take me. And then I did the national tour of Wicked, and I got to rehearse here in New York. It was a Broadway production, even though it was a tour, and it was rehearsing with a Broadway-caliber creative team and all that. So I was like, ‘Oh, this is pretty much the same thing. I’ve sort of made it to Broadway.’”
Adam continued, “I did that for a while, and then Idol happened. I felt like I took that fork in the road and it’s been amazing. I’ve loved recording my own music and being my own artist and working with Queen. But coming back to this, it feels like it’s this full-circle moment, and I get to return to a younger alternate reality. You know what I mean? What if I hadn’t done that? What would my life have been? And this almost answers that question in a way, and it’s really cool.”