Cyndi Lauper

Part-Sicilian, part-German, part-Swiss—but mostly New York—Cyndi Lauper has made a fine art out of a wacky, kooky image built around eccentric fashion sense, an adventurous array of hair colours and a distinctively idiosyncratic vocal style. With a career that's prospered for over three decades and produced over 25 million record sales, it clearly worked. She first sang in covers bands before forming Blue Angel with sax player John Turi, releasing one unsuccessful album before splitting. Signed by Portait Records as a solo act, she released debut album She's So Unusual in 1983 and her first single "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"— though written by a man—became an anthem of girl power. Self-written ballad "Time After Time" showed her serious side, followed by a string of other hits like "She Bop," "I Drove All Night" and queer anthem "True Colors." Cyndi Lauper has also ventured into acting, appearing in the sitcom Mad About You and starring in various movies, notably the comedies Vibes, Off and Running and Life With Mikey. She continued to release stylistically diverse albums over the years, including a collection of jazz standards covers called At Last in 2003, which featured a duet with Tony Bennett on "Makin' Whoopee," a dance-pop album called Bring Ya to the Brink in 2008, which went to number 41 on the US Billboard 200, and a country album called Detour in 2016. In 2024, she welcomed the release of greatest hits collection Let The Canary Sing.