The Story So Far
CYNDI LAUPER was born in Brooklyn, New York. She took up guitar at age 12, composing and playing in a
folk-based style through her teens while she attended several arts-oriented high schools.
I always loved to sing, especially in church....I felt like I was signing in heaven with the angels, and that our voices
could fill the entire room. Funny how I never really lost that feeling. I guess I always thought that singing was a
magical experience. I always felt lucky too, because no matter what, I could always feel close to that magic.
Thank you , God.
Cyndi joined her first semi-pro rock band in college, and paid her dues in the mid-Seventies as a vocalist with
cover bands in the New York area.
I sang some Janis Joplin songs, and also Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company...I tell ya, if I had to
sing 'White Rabbit ' one more time, I was gonna die!
In 1978, Cyndi and multi-instrumentalist John Turi formed Blue Angel, co-writing the band's original material.
Blue Angel released a self-titled album in 1980, but foundered on consumer and programmer indifference.
Cyndi Lauper signed with Portrait Records (a subsidiary of Epic Records) as a solo artist in the spring of 1983.
Her debut album She's So Unusual was issued in January, 1984 and went on to sell more than 4.5 million
copies in the U.S. alone. It was the first debut album, and the first album by a solo artist to spin off four Top Five
singles: 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun,' 'All Through The Night,' 'She Bop' and the #1 'Time After Time' (the latter
co-written by Cyndi and Rob Hyman of the Hooters). In 1984, Cyndi Lauper was voted Rolling Stone's Best New
Artist and Best Female Video Artist in the MTV Music Video Awards. She earned the Grammy Award for Best
New Artist; and two American Music Awards, for Favorite Female Vocalist (Pop/Rock) and Favorite Female
Vocalist Video (Pop/Rock).
I sang to my mother and wrestled Captain Lou Albano in a video, and for a minute it seemed we joined hands
with every mother, daughter and wrestling fan in the world. 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' could be heard
anywhere...
In September 1986, Cyndi Lauper released her second Epic album True Colors, which she co-produced. The
title track 'True Colors' became a #1 Pop smash and was nominated for a Grammy. Cyndi's subsequent world
tour included a sold-out Paris concert, later preserved on the Sony Home Video Cyndi Lauper In Paris. In the
summer of 1988, the singer co-starred with Jeff Goldblum and Peter Falk in the Columbia Pictures movie
Vibes. The movie was not a commercial success, but Cyndi's vivacious screen presence and comedic talent
were widely praised. (Other film credits include Off And Running and Life With Mikey.) In June, 1988, the singer
graduated (at last!) from Richmond Hill High School when she was presented with an honorary diploma in a
ceremony held at Queens College.
In October 1988, Cyndi traveled to the Soviet Union as one of a group of American song- writers collaborating
with Soviet counterparts. Her third Epic album A Night To Remember was issued in April 1989. She wrote or
co-wrote eight of the eleven tracks, and co-produced most of the album. The supporting cast included Eric
Clapton, Bootsy Collins, Rockin' Dopsie, and Larry Blackmon and Nathan Leftenant of Cameo. The single 'I
Drove All Night' was nominated for a Grammy Award.
By 1990 everything I used to think was important to me had changed. I felt more and more a growing urge to
find a new way...It was then that I realized that I wanted to produce my own work. After that, there was no turning
back.
On November 24, 1991 Cyndi and actor David Thornton were wed on Gramercy Park in Manhattan. Little
Richard led the couple in the recitation of their non-traditional vows, and Patti LaBelle sang the wedding theme
'Come What May'.
I wanted to make the album I always needed to make. I had to say the things I never could. I completed Hat Full
Of Stars in 1993.
Hat Full Of Stars, Cyndi Lauper's fourth Epic album, was issued in June, 1993. The singer co-produced the
album with Junior Vasquez. Cyndi also directed three videos for songs from the album, including the singles
'Who Let In The Rain' and 'Sally's Pigeons'. 'Hat Full Of Stars is startlingly wonderful,' said The Village Voice.
'The singing is stellar, the arrangements are happening.' Rolling Stone gave the album 3 1/2 stars, saying that
'her multi-octave voice has never sounded better.' The Los Angeles Times called Hat Full Of Stars Cyndi's 'most
consistently tuneful and ambitious album.'
In 1994, Cyndi Lauper appeared as a guest star on the hit television series Mad About You, for which she
earned an Emmy Award nomination. She recently reprised her role of Mary Ann, and is expected to receive a
second Emmy nomination later this year.
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