Extraordinary moment Adam Lambert brought Cher to tears with mournful cover of dance hit 'Believe'
22 April 2022, 16:03 | Updated: 22 February 2023, 16:15
Adam Lambert was at the annual Kennedy Centre Honours when he got on stage and gave a phenomenal performance of Cher's 1998 smash hit 'Believe' as the pop diva watched on from the audience.
Cher and Adam Lambert are up there with the most iconic singers of all time and when you mix them together, the results are truly stratospheric.
The Queen frontman was performing at the Kennedy Centre Honours on December 26, 2018 when he paid tribute to the legendary singer sitting in the audience, with his own take on her classic song 'Believe'.
The Queen star gave a heartfelt ballad-like performance of the world famous 1998 song, as the great and the good of American entertainment watched on and the camera panned to a clearly moved Cher as she wiped away tears.
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Adam Lambert was at the 2018 Kennedy Centre Honours ceremony to pay tribute to Cher and her fellow honorees, country star Reba McEntire, jazz composer Wayne Shorter, Philip Glass and Lin-Manuel Miranda and the team from Hamilton.
The annual awards ceremony, broadcast from the Kennedy Centre Opera House in Washington, D.C, honours individuals for their lifetime artistic achievement and now in its 44th year, is one of the greatest honours an American performer can receive.
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Adam Lambert gave a performance of the famous hit in tribute to Cher, and was later joined on stage by Cyndi Lauper for a duet of Sonny & Cher's famous 'I Got You Babe'.
Cher took to Twitter after the performance and struggled to express how moved she was: "Tried to write feelings about Adam Lambert singing 'Believe' in words, but can't seem to," she said.
"When your senses are overwhelmed all can you feel with your [heart emoji]," adding: "I was shocked and over the MOON When Cindi (Lauper) came out rocking the house. Shocked Because SHE TOLD ME SHE WAS IN LA."
Adam quickly responded to the singer on his own Twitter account, saying: "It was a total honor Cher!!!! You’re a goddess!"
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Three weeks after the performance an overwhelmed Cher was still very moved by the performance, writing on January 15, 2019: "Was sitting on [plane] and thinking...“Adam Lambert’s version of 'Believe' is BEYOND COMPREHENSION.”
The video comes after footage of Adam Lambert paying tribute to George Michael in 2016 was recently lauded by fans.
The Queen frontman was taking part in the TV show Greatest Hits when he wowed the audience with an incredible performance of the 1987 hit, 'Faith'.
Adam Lambert - Performing "Believe" by Cher - 41st Annual Kennedy Center Honors
Adam Lambert has always been a huge fan of George Michael and in March 2020 said he would love to be considered for playing George in a biopic about his life.
The 39-year-old singer told Metro: “I think [a biopic about George] would be very interesting."
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“That’d be cool, I just feel like, we don’t know that much about him. You know, to me, it would be great to kind of explore George’s life.”
Asked who he'd like to see play the Wham! singer, Adam replied: “I’d give it a go. Yeah, sign me up.”
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Another duet of Adam's has been doing the rounds when footage from a performance between the Queen singer and Roger Taylor recently resurfaced from 2012.
The newly crowned Queen frontman can be seen pulling the famous drummer to the front of the stage for a stunning performance of 'Under Pressure' to the delight of their fans.
Since the pandemic hit in March 2020, Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert performed a series of lockdown gigs from the comfort of their homes and in October, Queen released a new album Live Around The World which shot to number one, giving the band their first top spot album in 25 years.
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