Who is popular today?

The Queen frontman is a rousing interviewer as he celebrates trailblazing artists in queer music history – especially during a tricky chat about Freddie MercuryIt is a shame that Adam Lambert: Out, Loud and Proud is such a scrapbook of ideas, because parts of it are compelling and could have carried the show alone. Instead, this is an entertaining yet vague documentary about pop and pride, which sees Lambert promising a look back at UK queer history and the trailblazing artists who shoved society forward when it could barely admit it was willing to budge.Lambert rose to prominence as the runner-up of American Idol in 2009, though, like plucky X Factor third-placers One Direction, he has long since proved that winning a TV singing contest is not essential for stardom. As well as his solo career, for the last decade Lambert has been singing with the surviving members of Queen. By far the most interesting part of this documentary is when he sits down with his bandmates, Brian May and Roger Taylor, to talk about Freddie Mercury. Lambert is an easy conversationalist and his intimacy with May and Taylor allows for a complex conversation about identity, fame and success. He asks about Mercury’s queerness; May notes that there are stark generational differences in the adoption of the word “queer”, and that Mercury would probably have rejected the description. Would Mercury have been out today, had he lived past 45? They discuss it, but there is no easy answer to be found here. Continue reading...