Adam Lambert: Happy to see more LGBTQ artists find success

Adam Lambert, who rose on the music scene as the runner-up on "America Idol" in 2009, says he's happy to see more mainstream LGBTQ artists find major success.

"I think it's less taboo to be queer in the music industry now because there's so many cases you can point to like, 'Oh, it worked for him. It worked for her.' I think 10 years ago, it was a lot different," Lambert said in a recent interview. "Ten years ago, it was kind of like no one really knew. And I met a lot of amazing people in the industry — executives, people, publicists, marketing people — who on a personal level were cool with me and totally open, but didn't understand how this was going to work in mainstream America, or the world for that matter."

"Now, I think there's been some research and they know better. Now, people aren't as scared. They're not as fearful. There's answers. There's examples," he continued.

This Sept. 6, 2019 photo shows singer Adam Lambert posing for a portrait in New York to promote “Velvet: Side A,” one-half of his first studio album in four years. (Photo by Scott GriesInvisionAP)

One person Lambert points to is "Old Town Road" rapper Lil Nas X, who announced he was gay while his song was on top of the Billboard charts this year.

"I think I can relate to someone like Lil Nas X who waited until a song went to No. 1 to be like, 'By the way, I'm gay,'" Lambert said. "It proves a point that you can have success, big success. It is possible. Anybody is welcome to have that kind of success. And maybe it's not about what your sexuality is at the end of the day. Maybe it's about, 'Do you like the (expletive) song or not?'"

Lambert, who has been busy over the years touring with legendary rock band Queen, is hoping to move the needle again with his own music. The EP "Velvet: Side A," his first new project in four years, was released last month.

This Sept. 6, 2019 photo shows singer Adam Lambert posing for a portrait in New York to promote “Velvet: Side A,” one-half of his first studio album in four years. (Photo by Scott GriesInvisionAP)

"I took a while because I really had to dial into sort of the sound that I wanted it to be, and I needed to get back to sort of why I love making music," he said.

The Grammy-nominated performer calls his new project his "baby" and said while he has previously released different genres of music, he's brought his latest project to back to his beginning. With the exception of a ballad, most of the EP consists of groove and funk-based tracks.

"I didn't want to just be following some trend of the moment," he said. "As an artist, I don't like repeating myself. I like exploring new sounds, new vibes and that was part of it, too. I just needed to find a new inspiration."

This Sept. 6, 2019 photo shows singer Adam Lambert posing for a portrait in New York to promote “Velvet: Side A,” one-half of his first studio album in four years. (Photo by Scott GriesInvisionAP)

Lambert will release the rest of the project at a later date, and while each half will have a different sound, he said the entire project will be cohesive. His main goal is to make listeners dance, have fun, and take their minds away from the madness of the world.

"There's a lyric in 'Superpower,'" he said referring to his current single, "'You kick us down in the dirt, but we ain't going away.' People are pissed off and people are being marginalized all over the place. And I hope that if you're somebody that's feeling that way, you can listen to the song and it gives you like a little boost," he said. "It's not super dark, it's not super heavy, but hopefully it gives people a feeling of power."

Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at twitter.com/GaryGHamilton

This Sept. 6, 2019 photo shows singer Adam Lambert posing for a portrait in New York to promote “Velvet: Side A,” one-half of his first studio album in four years. (Photo by Scott GriesInvisionAP)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space “for all time” a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms race in space.

The Russian draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, goes further than the U.S.-Japan proposal, not only calling for efforts to stop weapons from being deployed in outer space but for preventing “the threat or use of force in outer space,” also “for all time.”

It says this should include deploying weapons “from space against Earth, and from Earth against objects in outer space.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council when he vetoed the U,S.-Japan draft that it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.

The vetoed resolution focused solely on weapons of mass destruction including nuclear arms, and made no mention of other weapons in space.

It would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that the U.S. and Russia ratified, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.

Before the U.S.-Japan resolution was put to a vote on April 24, Russia and China proposed an amendment that would call on all countries, especially those with space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”

The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes in the 15-member Security Council required for adoption.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”

Putin was responding to White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after casting the veto that the U.S.-Japan resolution cherry picked weapons of mass destruction.

He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”

Nebenzia also accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”

Much of the Russian draft resolution is exactly the same as the U.S.-Japan draft, including the language on preventing an arms race in space.

It calls on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space.”

Thomas-Greenfield said the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)