Singer Adrian Lyles never expected to get where he is the way that he did. But right now, he says he couldn’t be happier.

“It’s been amazing,” Lyles said. “Oh my gosh; I’ve been having so much fun. We’re just traveling and playing music. What could be better?”

Lyles took to the stage at a packed Beat Kitchen Friday, Jan. 31 as part of his tour supporting pop trio almost monday. After the release of his third single, “King of Everything,” and a starring role as “Jet” in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” Lyles’ performance was happy, energetic and met with enthusiasm.

Even though many concertgoers didn’t know Lyles beforehand, they left as newfound fans.

“He was so good,” concertgoer Abi Miller said. “Walking into here, I didn’t even know who was opening. I was really impressed.”

Olivia Antonelli attended the concert with her boyfriend and parents — she was introduced to almost monday by her parents and became a fan when she saw them open for AJR in 2024. Antonelli, too, is a new fan of Lyles.

“Amazing,” Antonelli said of Lyles’ performance. “I looked him up when I found out he was the opener. … I’m definitely gonna listen to him when I go home.”

Lyles said his experience touring with almost monday has been “wild.”

“They are some of the sweetest guys ever,” Lyles said. “We’re so happy to be out here with them … not even just them, but their crowds and their fans are incredible.”

Lyles started music at a young age when his parents put him in piano lessons.

“They let me quit every extracurricular I didn’t want to be a part of, except for piano,” Lyles said.

Then Lyles was introduced by a friend’s sister to the band Twenty One Pilots.

“That changed my entire life,” he said. “I was at my peak, like, edgy, I-want-to-be-different, 11-year-old moment … I was like, wait a second, I know enough piano where I can play those songs.”

From there, Lyles’ parents let him start singing lessons, and “it just kind of took off from there,” he said.

For years, Lyles and his parents would call anywhere with a stage to get him gigs and chances to perform live.

“For a long time (it was) me and my parents in Texas, calling places,” Lyles said. “That’s been what we’ve been doing for forever, with the dream of doing this and doing what all the incredible artists around me are doing.”

When Lyles landed a role on Disney’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” he and his parents uprooted and moved to Los Angeles.

“‘High School Musical’ popped up during Covid because of the self tape audition,” Lyles said. “My mom was like, this could be a cool avenue to try. Lo and behold, here we are. Moms are always right, I guess.”

Lyles, now 20 years old, said his parents’ support has been one of the most important factors in his life and his career. Once he got to “High School Musical,” he met a cast of “some of the most talented human beings that I’ve been around,” he said.

“Everybody on this cast is incredible,” Lyles said. “I joined the cast and (was) like, oh my god, Olivia Rodrigo, who’s doing exactly what I want to do!’ I had no idea what to expect, … but all I could see was the fact that they were all doing the music, which was my end goal. … It just helped me do exactly what I wanted to do.”

Lyles never expected acting to be his “big break.”

“The fact that that’s the avenue that we went down to get here is crazy to me,” he said. “I’m so happy to be here. It’s such a beautiful show with such a beautiful fan base and crew of people working on it. There’s nothing to not love.”

Following in the footsteps of his costars, Lyles released his debut single, “Formalize Me,” in September 2024, followed by “Somewhere to Go” in November and “King of Everything” Jan. 24, which coincided with the first day of tour.

According to Lyles, “King of Everything” is about a need to “continuously better yourself” and “taking that to an unhealthy level.”

“‘What’s so beautiful is the fact that it came out on the first day before where I’m doing what this song was saying that I wanted to do,” Lyles said. “It all feels very poetry-in-motion.”

With a debut album on the horizon, Lyles will tour with almost monday through Feb. 22.

“I don’t think any of us were expecting these shows to be as receptive to us as they were,” Lyles said. “It’s so beautiful.”

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