Mary Lambert

Mary Lambert – Life, Career, and Memorable Quotes

Mary Lambert (born May 3, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, and spoken-word artist known for her raw honesty, body-positive messages, and featuring voice on “Same Love.” Explore her journey, creative voice, and powerful words.

Introduction

Mary Lambert is more than a pop / folk singer: she is a poet, activist, truth-teller. Her voice—soft, bold, confessional—has resonated internationally after her collaboration on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s anthem “Same Love.” She uses her music to address mental health, sexuality, and self-acceptance with ferocity and tenderness. Her path shows how creativity, vulnerability, and activism can intertwine.

Early Life and Background

Mary Danielle Lambert was born on May 3, 1989, in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

She was raised in the Pentecostal Christian tradition, and was homeschooled for parts of her upbringing.

As a teenager, Mary Lambert struggled with her identity and her mental health, coming out as a lesbian at age 17, and later being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

She studied Music Composition at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, during which time she gravitated toward the local spoken-word community and began integrating poetry into her songwriting.

Before she broke through, she balanced multiple service jobs, including working nights and gigs, even before being invited to collaborate on “Same Love.”

Career & Achievements

Breakthrough with “Same Love”

Mary Lambert’s broader recognition came when she was asked by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to provide the hook vocals and partial writing for their song “Same Love” (2012), a pro-LGBTQ anthem on their album The Heist.

That song became a cultural milestone, nominated for awards and used in marriage equality campaigns.

Her solo version “She Keeps Me Warm,” reworking her hook and expanding it into a fully personal song, further established her voice in LGBTQ+ music spaces.

Solo Works, Poetry & Identity

Mary Lambert releases music often weaving in poetry, vulnerability, and social issues. Her albums include Letters Don’t Talk (2012) and Heart on My Sleeve (2014)

She performs spoken-word poetry, writes about body acceptance, mental health, identity, and trauma.

Her artistic style blends folk, pop, and intimacy, often accompanying herself on piano, cello, or guitar, with minimal but evocative production.

Advocacy & Influence

Lambert has become a voice in LGBTQ+ activism, mental health awareness, and body positivity. She speaks openly about her bipolar diagnosis, sexual violence, self-image, and healing.

She aims for her art to create connection and empathy, not just entertainment.

Her openness has inspired fans who see their own pain, contradictions, and strengths mirrored in her work.

Personality, Themes & Strengths

• Vulnerability as strength: Lambert embraces emotional risk in her music. She writes what many feel but often suppress.

• Authenticity over perfection: She refuses to sanitize trauma or identity for mass appeal.

• Healing through art: For her, songwriting and poem-writing are acts of recovery and meaning-making.

• Intersectional identity: She sits at multiple margins—queer, woman, plus size, mental health diagnosis—and speaks from the interstices.

• Courage in visibility: She uses her public platform to talk about taboo or painful things: sexual assault, mental illness, shame.

Famous Quotes by Mary Lambert

Here are several compelling quotes that reveal her inner world:

“I think no matter how you think about your music, you’re ultimately in the music ‘business.’ I think you have to be business-minded in some sense. And for me, the real goal… is positive intention and social change through music.”

“I used to be on the kitchen floor, crying, wasted and thinking of lyrics. That was the only way I could create — as a tortured artist. I’ve learned that you can be stable and taking care of yourself and still create beautiful work.”

“When I came out, I said, ‘I’m going to be a proud gay artist.’ I’m not going to be Melissa Etheridge. But she’s a goddess!”

“Even when I’m in a really great, steady and stable place… I’m clinically bipolar, so that always exists — a darkness always exists.”

“The bottom line is: You are in control of your reactions to things and how you view things.”

From her poetry / lyric side:

“i only know how to exist when i’m wanted.” “Just because I evolved, doesn’t mean I am spineless.”

These lines illustrate her honesty, conflict, and yearning.

Lessons from Mary Lambert

1. Transparency builds connection. By showing her broken parts, she invites others to heal.

2. Art can be activism. Her work blends self-story and social justice, proving music can matter.

3. Self-care is not indulgence. She talks openly about needing stability to create well.

4. Identity is layered. She models living fully at the intersections of queer, mental health, faith, art.

5. Growth doesn’t erase past pain. She acknowledges inner darkness still exists, but uses tools to move forward.

Conclusion

Mary Lambert’s journey reminds us that powerful art often comes from shattered places reassembled. She shows us you don’t need to hide your scars—in fact, they can become your language. Whether through a song, a poem, or a public statement, Lambert invites us to inhabit our full selves, with mess and glory both.