Early 2020 Appearances Cast Cyndi Lauper As Role Model, Advocate And Icon

2020 has been a busy and successful year so far for Cyndi Lauper, with a number of key appearances that reinforce her status as a role model, advocate and icon. She has a critical role in Rise Up: Songs Of The Women’s Movement, a documentary that premieres this weekend on PBS and will run throughout the year. The film highlights “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” as a key musical moment of the women’s movement. Lauper describes the song and video as “an invitation for people to see multi-racial, multi-generational women having fun together...it was all about feminism.” Her segment concludes with a photo from the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C., of a young woman holding a sign that says “Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights.” The PBS special is airing for Women's History Month and is especially timely with the 2020 election revving up. Watch the trailer here, and check local listings for air times.  

On the heels of Lauper’s most eclectic and diverse Home for the Holidays concert yet - her 9th annual sold-out benefit concert in December featured collaborative performances with everyone from Marilyn Manson to Henry Rollins - she kicked off 2020 by being chosen to perform in the all-star finale of the GRAMMY Awards. Lauper was also at the heart of two other important GRAMMY week moments. She brought down the house at Clive Davis’ annual star-studded party when she performed “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" with Brandi Carlile, which had everyone from Beyonce to John Legend on their feet. At Bebe Rexha’s Women In Harmony brunch Lauper delivered a passionate and uplifting impromptu speech, met with rapt applause from a packed house of women in the music industry - and shared widely on social media. 

Looking ahead, Lauper continues to work on the Working Girl musical coming to Broadway and on a Netflix special with Jane Lynch and Carol Leifer. She will also perform at the all-star benefit concert Love Rocks NYC on March 12 at the Beacon Theater.