Can American Idol predict the next Velvet Revolver singer?

Adam Lambert...the next Velvet Revolver singer?
Adam Lambert...the next Velvet Revolver singer?

Velvet Revolver are still searching for a replacement singer for Scott Weiland. Perhaps they be watching American Idol. Slash, for one, was in the audience last night - did he see his band's future?

It was all part of what American Idol calls 'Rock Week,' in which the final four contestants - Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen, Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert - sing tunes than run the gamut from The Beatles' Come Together to Janis Joplin's Cry Baby.

Lambert sings Whole Lotta Love

"Nobody will be able to top it" Simon Cowell to Adam Lambert, after the singer belted out Whole Lotta Love

Last night, all performed admirably but nobody seemed to truly hit it out of the ballpark until Lambert, who had been previously coached by Slash to avoid ad-libbing in the upper register, came on and lit into an I'm-going-for-it version of the Led Zeppelin classic Whole Lotta Love.

We'll let you judge Lambert's skills in the video below, but the show's firing line seemed uniformly bowled over. Even the notoriously hard-to-please Simon Cowell said that the only problem with Lambert's performance was that "nobody will be able to top it."

Wonder if Slash asked Lambert to come on down for a Velvet Revolver audition? If he didn't, perhaps Jimmy Page might want to give him a ring. Stranger things have happened.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.