Adam Lambert changes pronoun to 'he' in 'Whataya Want From Me' 15 years after release

Adam Lambert is reclaiming one of his hit songs, almost 15 years after its release.The singer/songwriter rerecorded “Whataya Want From Me,” the Grammy-nominated track from his debut studio album, “For Your Entertainment,” and enlisted DJ White Shadow for the remix … or as Lambert is calling it, the “HeMix.”

In addition to new vocals and an up-tempo dance beat, Lambert changed the lyric from “it messed me up” to “he messed me up,” which was how it was originally written. “Whataya Want From Me” was supposed to be a track for a Pink album she wrote with Max Martin and Shellback. After she declined to use it, the song went to Lambert. Under the pressure of the music industry at the time, he opted to change the pronoun from “he” to “it.”“It’s one word, but in a very subtle way signals that times have changed,” Lambert, 42, tells USA TODAY from his home in Los Angeles. “We’re in a different era. And in a lot of ways, it kind of illustrates all of the growth that I’ve been able to do as an artist and as a creative person.”

Lambert, who first spoke with USA TODAY about the lyric change in 2023, recalls that the “gatekeepers” of the music industry in 2009 were those in charge of radio playlists. Despite the support of his management and record label, Lambert was advised that if he sang about a man breaking his heart, radio would be reluctant to play the song. Lambert made the change hoping that he could continue his career trajectory and that his chart success would pave the way for other queer artists.

“There’s a lot of beauty in (the music industry),” Lambert says, noting his passions for performing and traveling. “But the business side of it can be challenging. I always try to (advise other artists): ‘Roll with the punches. It’s not going to be 100% easy.’”

Because he was only changing a pronoun, Lambert wasn’t required to clear the change with the song’s original producers. But he did give Martin and Shellback a heads-up, and they gave it a “glowing blessing.”

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The new track comes ahead of June's Pride Month, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Lambert kicks off the festivities in LA, where he’ll perform at WeHo Pride with another artist who rose to pop stardom in the late 2000s: Kesha.

“It’s an interesting time because (the queer community) made so much progress as a culture,” he says. “There have definitely been some setbacks in the past five or so years. It’s frustrating.“If you’re really able to zoom out, the reason why I think (the LGBTQ+ community is) getting this pushback is because we’re shining so brightly and proudly. When you look at the queer community, so much of what we do is based on us just trying to love ourselves and love each other. I don’t understand what’s the matter with love. Love is beautiful.”