Is Adam Lambert First Openly-Gay Male Artist to Score #1 U.S. Album?

RCA Records

Adam Lambert's new album Trespassing apparently isn't just historic because it marks the first time one American Idol alum has replaced another at #1 on the album chart.  According to the website AfterElton.com, Adam is now the first openly-gay male artist ever to score a number-one album in t
As AfterElton.com reports, other gay male performers have had number-one albums, likeElton John and George Michael, but those number-ones arrived before they came out of the closet, and the artists haven't managed the feat since.

Though Elton John admitted in 1976 that he was bisexual, he didn't come out as gay until 1988.  Since then, AfterElton is correct: he hasn't had a #1 album in the U.S.  Although all six albums Elton released from 1972 to 1975 topped the U.S. album chart, 1976's Blue Moves -- the first one released after he admitted his bisexuality -- rose no higher than #3.  As for George Michael, his only #1 album in the U.S. was Faith, and that was long before he came out of the closet. 

Clay Aiken also seems to have followed this pattern.  His debut album hit #1 in 2003; he came out in 2008. No number-one albums since then, but to be fair, his album sales in general had already been in decline for some time.  Other openly-gay male artists who failed to return to #1 after coming out include Ricky Martin, Lance Bass of 'N SYNC and Michael Stipe of R.E.M.

The Village Voice was the first publication to point out Adam's achievement, and Adam's record label tells ABC News Radio that they believe The Voice's claim to be correct.  Adam tweeted, "Thank you to the Glamily for helping me make HISTORY!" but it's unclear if he was referring to this particular claim.

It's worth noting that, while Queen did top the chart in 1980 with the album The Game, and their frontman Freddie Mercury told an interviewer in 1974 that he was gay, The Village Voice doesn't count them.  Why? The paper argues that at the time Mercury made that comment, Queen were unknown in the U.S., so it had little impact on the U.S. record-buying public. 

Then, in the years that followed, The Voice claims that Mercury couldn't be considered "openly gay" because he never directly addressed his sexuality again in an interview, asked journalists not to mention his boyfriends, and denied he was HIV positive until just days before he died of AIDS in 1991.

  ABC News Radio