Adam Lambert's All-Time Favorite Tracks

March 12, 2010— -- In case it was ever in doubt, rock crooner Adam Lambert professes to be a born performer.

Long before he electrified "American Idol" audiences with soaring renditions of Queen and Tears for Fears hits, Lambert was a child stage actor, appearing at age 10 as Linus in a San Diego Lyceum Theater production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

"I just remember the first time being on stage in front of people, being nervous but getting such a thrill from the applause and the attention," said Lambert, 28. "And I think I was hooked from there on out."

Lambert recently sat down with "Nightline" at The Kimberly Hotel in New York City to discuss his recent work, his "Idol" success and some of his own musical idols, from Johnny Cash to Madonna.

Here, Lambert talks about some of the music that belongs in his personal dream jukebox, and why.

"Like a greatest hits Bob Marley, like 'Exodus' or one of them. I remember distinctly being out in the summer by the pool during, like, middle school and high school, and my parents would, like, blend up some margaritas or have some beer or something, and chips and salsa, and Bob Marley, and just floating out in the pool. That's, like, a distinct memory. So now if I'm in vacation mode, I have to listen to Bob Marley."

"Bowie's been a huge influence on me. ... I remember early on, my dad pulling out the 'Diamond Dogs' album, and the cover alone just grabbed my attention. I think I was probably around 12. And he was, you know, laying, it's like a painting of him kind of laying, half-dog, half-man. It was just the weirdest thing I had ever seen. I was fascinated by it.

"And then my dad would play the title track and it was spooky, it was creepy, you know, he had the spoken word element ... and it was really eerie. And I remember my little brother and I would be sitting on the couch when my dad would play it, and my little brother would get really freaked out by the, like, the howling and everything, it would scare him. And I thought that was pretty cool, that my dad was able to scare my brother with a record.

"So pretty much, to sum it up, if you can freak someone out and bring that kind of emotion out of somebody with a song, you're doing something right."