‘She broke all the rules’: how Cyndi Lauper made it big as new musical lands
Soon to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cyndi Lauper will premiere Working Girl, a follow-up to Kinky Boots, later this month
“Look at these guys,” Cyndi Lauper whispers discreetly as she nods toward a strait-laced couple strolling through the Sunset Marquis hotel in West Hollywood, a favourite of rock legends. “I wonder what they think of a rock’n’roll hotel.”
The 72-year-old pop icon is hanging out on a September afternoon in a leafy alcove at the spot that has been her go-to in Los Angeles since the early 1980s.
Back then, Lauper was a disruptive new star raising eyebrows with her chaotic fashion sense and her earthy “Noo Yawk” accent. Now, nearly half a century later, she has just wrapped a two-night stand at the Hollywood Bowl to finish off what she is calling her farewell tour.
Filled with quirky yet heartfelt classics like “Time After Time”, “She Bop” and the timeless “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, the gigs came as Lauper prepares to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony set for November.
In announcing that she had been voted in, the hall hailed Lauper’s “distinctive four-octave voice and songwriting chops” and noted her influence on younger acts like Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Chappell Roan, whom she had “empowered to perform as their unique, authentic selves”.
“She broke all the rules,” says Lauper’s friend Cher, who joined her onstage at the Bowl along with Joni Mitchell and SZA. “She even broke the accent rule.”