1953
Cyndi Lauper (full name: Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper), was born in Brooklyn-New York on June 22nd 1953. Her father is Fred Lauper, her mother Catrine Dominique (present in several of Cyndi's videos), her sister Elen (She is now an accupuncturist in Southern California) and her brother Fred (nicknamed Butch).
Cyndi attended several arts-orientated high schools, but was invariably swayed from her studies by the cultural attractions of the day. She started guitar lassons at the age of 12 and began writing songs with her sister. The first song she learnt to play was "Greensleeves".
1977
In the mid-seventies she performed as a vocalist with various cover bands in the New York metropolitan area. She sang the songs of Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, and some top 40 covers... The names of the cover bands were "Doc West" & "Flyer". In 1977, Cyndi extensively damaged her vocal cords, leaving her virtually voiceless.
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After a full year of therapy with voice coach Katie Agestra, Cyndi's voice was back and soon Cyndi and multi-instrumentalist John Turi formed a new band, 'Blue Angel', which released its self-titled debut album in 1980. This album included Maybe He'll Know and Lauper's soaring rendition of Gene Pitney's I'm Gonna Be Strong. Whilst the album met critical success the buyers were few and far between. Blue Angel toured the US and even supported Joe Jackson on his tour of Germany and Holland. 1981 Blue Angel continued touring the US and later that year they decided to call it a day. Blue Angel were no longer! |
1983
Recognition soon followed:
American Music Awards for Favorite Female Vocalist Pop/Rock
American Music Awards for Favorite Female Vocalist Video Pop/Rock
A Grammy award for Best New Artist
"Rolling Stone" Best New Artist and Best Female Video Artist
MTV Best Female Video Artist
...and many others.
1984
In 1984, Cyndi worked 350 days and neared her 300th concert mark. She performed or promoted her records in 150 cities. But she also found time to sit down and design all the T-shirts sold at her concerts. The year came to an end with Cyndi Lauper being named Woman Of The Year by MS Magazine.
1985
In 1985, Cyndi contributed her writing and singing talents to the movie, The Goonies. She provided the Goonies theme song entitled The Goonies 'R' Good Enough. It became a top 10 hit around the world. Cyndi Lauper also took part in the unforgettable We Are The World song. Cyndi won the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Award for Vocalist on Record Of The Year for her performance in We Are The World.
1986
In '86 True Colors was launched, the cast of this album included notables such as Billy Joel, Nile Rodgers, Rick Derringer, Aimee Mann and The Bangles. Cyndi received a Grammy nomination for the single True Colors. Not only did Cyndi co-write 7 of the 10 songs she also co-produced this album. On September 10th 1986, Cyndi began her first world tour, "True Colors Tour."
1987
The True Colors Tour came to an end on March 12th in the French capital, Paris. The show at the Zenith was filmed and later released on video. "Cyndi Lauper in Paris" became her first video release.
1988
Cyndi made her motion picture debut in the movie, Vibes. She co-starred with Jeff Goldblum and they both played psychics. Even though most fans love this movie, it was panned by the critics. Hole In My Heart (All The Way To China) was the title track from the movie and was a hit in various countries.
In October 1988, Cyndi travelled to the Soviet Union as one of a group of American songwriters collaborating with Soviet counterparts. The outcome is a great song, Cold Sky, and can be found on the album Music Speaks Louder Than Words.
In 1989, Cyndi recorded the album A Night To Remember. Five singles were lifted from this album in various terrorities around the world. Whilst this album was not the success as first hoped, Cyndi received another Grammy nomination, for the single I Drove All Night. The "A Night To Remember" Tour began in April and Cyndi travelled to Australia, Japan, North & South America. The 80's ended with hit records, award-winning videos, sold-out concert tours and very positive media acclaim; the rest, to use Lauper's expression, is "herstory". 1990 The new decade began with Cyndi filming her second movie entitled Off and Running, were she met her husband David Thornton on the set. In May, Cyndi performed at the John Lennon Tribute Concert in Liverpool, UK. Then in July Cyndi was one of the performers at the mementous "The Wall Live" concert in Berlin. 1991 Cyndi married actor David Thornton on November 24th 1991 at the Friends Meeting House in New York. Little Richard led the couple in the recitation of their non-traditional vows, and Patti Labelle sang the wedding theme "Come What May". 1992... saw the release of The World Is Stone in Europe and Australia. The World Is Stone became one of the biggest selling singles in France that year. |
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Cyndi's fourth album Hat Full Of Stars was released. In addition to co-producing and co-writing this album, Cyndi also directed three videos from it, making her one of the few artist/directors in the pop world today. Cyndi embarked on a pre-release tour of North Amercia showcasing Hat Full Of Stars. In December Cyndi embarked on another Japanese tour.
1994
In 1994, Cyndi released Twelve Deadly Cyns... And Then Some. This album contains the hit singles and 2 previously unreleased tracks. This album was hughly successful in the UK with sales over nearly a million. The album spent a year in the UK charts, debuting at #2.
Cyndi also embarked on her first major world tour in 5 years, The 12 Deadly Cyns Tour and made her first appearance on the sitcom, Mad About You. She was even nominated for an Emmy award. However, she did not win.
1995
Although Twelve Deadly Cyns… And Then Some was released worldwide in 1994, it was only released in July 1995 in the US. Cyndi continued her 12 Deadly Cyns Tour, travelling the globe. Also, this year saw the release of 12 Deadly Cyns, The Videos. Cyndi's first video collection.
Cyndi made her second appearance in the sitcom, Mad About You. Again she was nominated for another Emmy award. This time, she won.
1996
In late 1996, Sisters Of Avalon, Cyndi's 6th studio album was released in Japan. For the first time, Cyndi took part in the writing of every song. Jan Pulsford, the keyboardist co-wrote 11 songs. A full Japanese tour took place in November / December.
1997
The album Sisters Of Avalon was released worldwide. Whilst this album met critical aclaim sales were poor. Cyndi Lauper made a promotional trip to Europe.
Cyndi was pregnant with her first child, a boy. She announced it for the first time during 'Fox After Breakfast' on April 28th. She said: "I'm in my eleventh week and I know I'm having a football player or model. I feel like this kid should be in college by now, it's taking so long." While pregnant, Cyndi toured in US as special guest of Tina Turner on her "Wildest Dreams" tour for 3 months.
Declyn Wallace Thornton Lauper was born on November 19th 1997.
1998
Cyndi worked on her sitcom. Then in October, she released her Christmas album, Merry Christmas...Have A Nice Life. This album was the last with Sony Music.
1999
Cyndi continued to work on her sitcom, (unfortunately, never saw the light of day), appeared twice in Mad About You and did a US tour as a Cher's special guest.
Disco Inferno was released and was a hit in the US clubs during summer.
Cyndi was looking for a new label.
Cyndi filmed a movie, The Opportunists, with Christopher Walken. It was Cyndi's first dramatic role in a movie.
The Opportunists was released and Cyndi received good reviews in the US. Unfortuantely, this movie went straight to DVD in most countries.
2001
Cyndi's new album, Shine, was supposed to be released by Edel, but the label went under and the 12 track Shine album never saw the light of day, that is, until it was leaked onto the internet. Fortunately, for Cyndi, she was able to get her songs back from Edel.
2002
Once again, Cyndi joined Cher on tour to excellent reviews. Cyndi also released a 5 track EP containing some of the songs from the never released Shine album, plus a remix of Higher Plane. Whilst only sold over the internet and at concerts, it was a huge success. Cyndi also did several in-store signings and continued to tour.
2003
Saw the release of Cyndi Lauper's first album in 5 years, At Last. At Last is an album of covers. The promotional campaign began in the US and Japan and included a trip to Europe where Cyndi played special industry gigs at London's Cafe Du Paris & The VIP Room in Paris. In Berlin Cyndi performed at the Quasimodo Jazz club to 300 people. The album was a huge success in the US and debuted on the chart at #38. Her highest debuting chart entry in the US. A US tour took placed stopping in 11 cities.
Cyndi went on tour in support of her At Last album, which took her to Australia, Japan and the US. Cyndi had not been to Australia since 1989. This tour was a huge success and boosted sales of At Last in Australia, giving Cyndi her highest chart position there in almost 10 years. The Shine album which was originally to be released in 2001 was finally released but only Japan. 2004, also saw the release of Cyndi Lauper's second live video, Live...At Last. In 2004, The collection was released in the UK & US in a long box set version.
2005
2005 began with exciting news for die-hard fans as Cyndi's first album with her band Blue Angel was released in a limited edition CD format. This special release is limited to 5000 copies. Fans in the US & Japan got a taste of Cyndi classics reworked plus to new songs on the album The Body Acoustic. Time After Time with Sarah McLachlan was the lead single and due to airplay alone charted in the US. By the end of 2005, more compliation CD's were released in various countries around the world.
2006
Began with The Body Acoustic being released in the rest of the world. Cyndi promoted the album heavily in the UK and Europe with a number of TV and Radio appearances. Cyndi was finally back in the UK charts. In March 2006, The Three Penny Opera, Cyndi's Broadway debut opened to rave reviews. In the June of 2006 Cyndi emaked on a US Tour. Cyndi took part in the concert From The Big Apple To The Big Easy.
On 16th October 2006, Cyndi was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
2007
The year began with exciting information for all Cyndi fans with the news of a new studio album. Cyndi has been writing with collaborators in Europe and the US. The title of the album is due to be called Savior Faire(later named Bring Ya To The Brink) and will be released in early 2008.
Cyndi also embarked on the first ever True Colors Tour in June 2007. A 16 date tour across the US with other artists such as Debbie Harry, Erasure, The Gossip, The Dresden Dolls, The Misshapes with Maragret Cho as the MC. Cyndi said "This tour was created to celebrate our differences by raising awareness for liberty, fairness and dignity for everyone - not just some of us." Cyndi performed old favourites such as Hole In My Heart (All The Way To China), When You Were Mine and Goonies 'R' Good Enough plus 2 new songs; Set Your Heart and Grab A Hold. A new remix of True Colors was released to celebrate the tour.
A show in Singapore and a mini tour of Japan took place in the August with 2 dates at the Summer Sonic Festival.
Cyndi landed a role in the new movie Here & There. Her character is called Rose. Filming took place in New York. The movie also features Cyndi's husband David Thornton.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Cyndi's debut smash hit was re-released in US on the new Ringles format. The CD features the original versions of Girls Just Want To Have Fun (GJWTHF) & Right Track / Wrong Train with a digital ringtone download of GJWTHF.
In the October, Cyndi received the Matthew Shepard Foundation HONORS award. "As we make progress in our efforts to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance, we must honor and celebrate our champions visionary women and men who are trailblazers in the effort to erase hate in our society," said Shepard.
Cyndi spent the latter part of 2007 recording her new album in the US & Europe.
Cyndi ended 2007 with New Year's Eve concert at the Sheraton Waikiki in Hawaii.
2008
Began with 2 more concerts on the Island of Hawaii and continued to record her new album with a visit to Sweden.
In February Cyndi travelled to Australia for a 8 date Australain tour playing for the first time in Perth, Western Australia to rave reviews.
Cyndi was special guest at the 2008 Sydney Mardi Gras closing the celebrations dressed as Maire Antoinette. She sang Same Old Fucking Story and a new rendition of Girls Just Want To Have Fun.
On the 5th March the second annual True Colors Tour was announced. The True Colors Tour is a celebration of the basic values and freedoms that should be shared by all Americans. Fans will experience these values through the music of both legendary icons and the newest and coolest acts this generation has to offer.
"I'm so excited and honored that we're taking True Colors out on the road again this year," said tour producer and creator Cyndi Lauper. "We had a blast last year and we are proud that the tour also brought about visibility and discussions of issues that LGBT citizens face in our country today. This year I am once again joined on the tour by an array of incredibly talented artists. The tour is a non stop 5 hour music party with a message. This year the party only gets bigger and our message to the fans is to get out and vote in November. The True Colors Tour asks for equality for all, not just for some, that is the principal upon which this country was founded. So let's celebrate and have fun this summer while we spread the word to get out the vote and all become a part of the changes in this country."
On the 14th May, Cyndi Lauper finally launched her new album Bring Ya To The Brink in Japan. This was marked with a special performance at MARUCUBE (Marunouchi Bild 1F) in Tokyo. The new album is an all dance / rhythm set. Cyndi collaborated with the likes of Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Scumfrog, Dragonette, Kleerup, Peer Astrom of Murlyn, Axwell & Richard Morel. Cyndi co-wrote and co-produced the entire album.
Bring Ya To The Brink saw it's US debut on 27th May peaking at #41 on the Billbaord charts. Same Ol' Story was released as a promo only single in the US and hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Club / Dance chart.
The video for Into The Nightlife was shot at the New York club Splash. Fans were invited to take part in this rare event.
In the month of June, Cyndi took her annual True Colors Tour on the road across North America. June was also a very exciting time for fans acorss the world with Bring Ya To The Brink being released in other territories, Australia, South East Asia & South America and especially in Europe and Japan where full tours were announced. In Europe Cyndi Lauper will play some countries for the very first time.
July / August / September saw Bring Ya To The Brink released in the UK and Europe to rave reviews. Cyndi Lauper visited the UK to promote the new album and appeared on various TV programmes. Cyndi premiered her new single Into The Nightlife on the ITV1 show Loose Woman.
Into The Nightlife shot to the number 1 spot on the Billboard Club / Dance chart in the US, making it 2 in a row! Into the Nightlife was released digitally in the UK on 22nd September. This was Cyndi's first single release in the since '97.
The Bring Ya To The Brink World Tour began on 23rd September in Japan with 4 sold out concerts. The toured moved to Europe in the October where Cyndi played for the first time in countries such as Ireland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria. After a successful European tour, Cyndi took her show to South Amercia. It was the first time she had played there since 1994.
To be continued...
