Adam Lambert in His Own Words: Sexuality, Kris Allen, Life After Idol

When American Idol ended and Adam Lambert was surrounded by a crush of reporters asking the "question dangling over his head," he was tempted to speak out about his sexuality, but he held back. "I almost started talking about it to the reporters, but I thought, 'I'm going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler,' " Lambert says. His incredible coming-out story is the new cover of Rolling Stone, on newsstands today.

Here's more from Vanessa Grigoriadis' conversation with Lambert — Adam, in his own words, discussing his relationships with fellow Idols Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta, his plans for his music career and why he refuses to hide his sexuality. "Private lives don't exist anymore for celebrities: they just don't," he tells us. "I don't want to be looking over my shoulder all the time, thinking I have to hide ... going down the red carpet with some chick who is posing as my girlfriend. That's not cool, that's not being a rock star. I can't do that."

• Adam Lambert in His Own Words: Sexuality, Kris Allen and Life After Idol

Plus, check out photos from the Lambert family album:

• Adam Lambert: The Early Years

"Wild Idol: The Psychedelic Transformation and Sexual Liberation of Adam Lambert" is on newsstands now.

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Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

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