Girls Just Wanna have Fun(damental) Rights
Cyndi Lauper grew up in a railroad-style apartment in Queens with a single mom who supported them by waiting tables.
They often traveled to Manhattan to see plays and visit art museums. On those trips, she began to find a place for herself in the world, through art, design and music.
She began writing her own songs by age 12.
Cyndi always felt out of place in school and eventually dropped out to begin working odd jobs and singing in any restaurant that would have her.
In 1977, she damaged her vocal cords and doctors told her that she would never sing again. She worked extra hours so she could hire a vocal coach. After a year, she was back in action.
Cyndi formed a new wave band called Blue Angel in 1978 and got a record deal. But the band broke up after releasing one album. She ventured out on her own and didn’t stop writing. Then in 1983 she dropped her first album,
“She's So Unusual.”
She was the first woman to get 4 major hits on a debut album, playing around the clock on the radio.
The album took the world by surprise. People loved Cyndi’s eclectic clothes and wildly colorful hair. No one could stop singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," "Time After Time," "She Bop" and "All Through the Night.”
Music fans went crazy for her. She made it on to MTV and the album sold by the millions in the U.S. and internationally.
Cyndi won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1984.
She kept writing new music and released another album called True Colors. Then she began an acting career, staring alongside Jeff Goldblum in Vibes.
She even took her talents to Broadway, writing the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots.
Lauper has spent her life as an activist for gay rights, founding the True Colors Residence which helps homeless LGBTQ+ youth.
Last fall, she launched the Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights Fund, dedicated to financially supporting women’s issues.
Shop the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun(damental) Rights sticker
“It is not a dirty word, feminism. I just think that women belong in the human population with the same rights as everybody else.”
— CYNDI LAUPER
