Age, Biography, and Wiki
Cyndi Lauper, born Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, is now 71 years old as of June 2024. She was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to parents Catrine and Fred Lauper, with a mix of Swiss-German and Italian ethnicity. Lauper grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, alongside her siblings. She attended Richmond Hill High School but was expelled; however, she later earned her GED. Lauper then studied art at Johnson State College in Vermont.
| Occupation | Voice Actress |
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| Date of Birth | 22 June 1953 |
| Age | 72 Years |
| Birth Place | Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Cancer |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about her current height and weight are not widely available, Lauper is known for her distinctive appearance, which has been a hallmark of her career.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Lauper was in a long-term relationship with Dave Wolff, who was her manager, for six and a half years. She later married actor David Thornton in 1997 after meeting him on the set of Off and Running. The couple has one son together.
Her father, Fred, was of Swiss-German descent, and a descendant of Christen Lauper, a leader of the Swiss peasant war of 1653. Her mother, Catrine (1930–2022), was of Italian (Sicilian) descent. Lauper's siblings are her younger brother Fred (nicknamed Butch), and older sister Ellen. Lauper's parents divorced when she was five. Her mother remarried and divorced again.
The music video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" won the inaugural award for Best Female Video at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, and made Lauper an MTV staple. The video featured professional wrestling manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Lauper's father, and her real-life mother, Catrine, as her mother, and also featured her attorney, her manager, her brother Butch, and her dog Sparkle. In 1984–85, Lauper appeared on the covers of the magazines Rolling Stone, Time, and Newsweek. She appeared twice on the cover of People, and was named a Ms. magazine Woman of the Year in 1985.
Lauper appeared with professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, who was cast as her "bodyguard" and would also later make many appearances as herself in a number of the World Wrestling Federation's "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" events, and played Wendi Richter's manager in the inaugural WrestleMania event. Dave Wolff, Lauper's boyfriend and manager at the time, was a wrestling fan as a boy, and engineered the rock and wrestling connection.
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| Husband | David Thornton (m. 1991) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Cyndi Lauper's net worth is estimated to be $50 million. Her wealth primarily comes from her successful music career, having sold over 50 million records worldwide. She also earns from acting and other business ventures.
On April 1 (March 1 in Europe), Lauper released the 30th Anniversary edition of She's So Unusual through Epic Records It featured a remastered version of the original album plus three new remixes. The Deluxe Edition featured bonus tracks such as demos and a live recording as well as a 3D cut-out of the bedroom featured in the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video with a reusable sticker set.
Activism and Business Ventures
Lauper is known for her activism, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. She has been involved in various philanthropic efforts throughout her career.
In the early 1970s, Lauper performed as a lead vocalist with various cover bands. One, called Doc West, covered disco songs as well as Janis Joplin. A later band, Flyer, was active in the New York metropolitan area, singing hits by bands including Bad Company, Jefferson Airplane and Led Zeppelin. Although Lauper was performing on stage, she was not happy singing covers. In 1977, Lauper damaged her vocal cords and took a year off from singing. She was told by doctors that she would never sing again, but regained her voice with the help of vocal coach Katie Agresta.
In May 2022, it was announced that Alison Ellwood would direct a career retrospective documentary about Lauper. The film, entitled Let the Canary Sing, encased Lauper's 40+ year career, and was produced by Sony Music Entertainment. The documentary premiered in June 2023.
Let the Canary Sing, a documentary directed by Alison Ellwood about Lauper's career debuted on Paramount+ on June 4, 2024. The soundtrack for the documentary had been released on May 31, 2024. One day before the release of Let the Canary Sing, Lauper announced that she would be holding one last series of concerts before retiring from touring. Her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour began in Montreal, Canada, on October 18, 2024, and will end on August 30, 2025, at the Hollywood Bowl. Lauper stated she wanted to host the farewell tour to properly thank her fans while she was still in good shape.
Lauper has been an LGBT rights supporter throughout her career, campaigning for equality through various charities and gay pride events around the world. Lauper stated that she became involved in gay rights advocacy because her sister Ellen is a lesbian and because Lauper herself was passionate about equality. Lauper cites her sister Ellen as a role model.
In 2008, Lauper started True Colors United The organization works to end youth homelessness, focusing on the experiences of LGBT youth. She set up the True Colors Residence in New York City for LGBT homeless youths. The 30-bed facility offers temporary shelter and job placement help. In April 2010, TCU launched the Give a Damn campaign, to help get straight people more involved in LGBT rights. In December 2022, Lauper performed her song "True Colors" at the ceremony where U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law.
Lauper was described by AllMusic's Lindsay Planer as "an iconoclastic vocalist who revolutionized the role of women in rock and roll". Over her 40-year career, she influenced multiple recording artists including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Vanessa Paradis, Tegan and Sara, Kim Petras, Nicki Minaj, Poppy and Yelle. Lauper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.
Social Network
Lauper maintains a strong presence on social media platforms, where she engages with her fans and promotes her work.
Lauper received recording offers as a solo artist, but held out, wanting the band to be included in any deal she made. Blue Angel was eventually signed by Polydor Records and they released their debut and sole studio album Blue Angel on the label in 1980. Lauper hated the album cover, saying that it made her look like Big Bird, but Rolling Stone magazine later included it as one of the 100 best new wave album covers (2003). Despite critical acclaim, the album sold poorly ("It went lead", as Lauper later joked) and the band broke up. The members of Blue Angel had a falling-out with Massarsky and fired him as their manager. He later filed an $80,000 suit against them, which forced Lauper into bankruptcy. After this Lauper temporarily lost her voice due to an inverted cyst in her vocal cord.
On October 27, 1998, she released her sixth studio album and first Christmas album, Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life. It combines original compositions by Lauper and collaborator Jan Pulsford with traditional Christmas songs. "Feels Like Christmas" previously appeared on Lauper's studio album Hat Full of Stars (1993).
Lauper made international news in March 2011 for an impromptu performance of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" while waiting for a delayed flight at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A video was later posted on YouTube.
In March 2018, it was announced that Lauper and Hyman were also going to compose the score for the musical version of the romantic comedy drama film Working Girl (1988) which starred Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Cusack, and Melanie Griffith. She teamed up with Hyman because she wanted "the music to sound like the 80s". The musical was staged by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley. A developmental production premiere of the musical is planned for the 2021/2022 season.
In August 2008, she contributed an article titled "Hope" to The Huffington Post, encouraging Americans to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Lauper performed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Spotify said that She's So Unusual and Lauper's distinctive idiosyncratic appearance "helped popularize the image of punk and new wave for America, making it an acceptable part of the pop landscape". Rolling Stone magazine stated that her debut was "arguably the first time explicitly punk-influenced elements were front-and-center on the pop landscape, both musically and via Lauper's Patrick Lucas-styled ensembles, dressing up the droll Reagan decade in feminist chutzpah". The album ranked at No. 487 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003. The album ranked at No. 41 on Rolling Stone's list of Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012. Rolling Stone's review stated, "A wild and wonderful skyrocket of a voice ... Lauper's extraordinary pipes connect with the right material, the results sound like the beginning of a whole new golden age." Thirty years after its release, Entertainment Weekly called it an "everlastingly saucy supersmash".
Sheila Moeschen argued that "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" "embodied a different kind of feminine aesthetic that ran counter to the raw sensuality and edginess of her contemporaries like Madonna or veteran rockers Joan Jett and Pat Benatar", that introduced "a nation of women to a new kind of female role model, one that celebrated difference and encouraged playfulness in self-expression". John Rockwell wrote that the song was "a giddily upbeat attestation to female pleasure that simultaneously made a feminist statement, fulfilled male fantasies and—especially in its often-played video version—evoked the warmth of family and friends". Its music video won the first-ever Best Female Video prize at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. It featured a multicultural cast of women with teased, sideways hair and neon eye shadow, singing alongside Lauper.
Education
Lauper attended Richmond Hill High School but was expelled. She later earned her GED and studied art at Johnson State College in Vermont.
Lauper went to Richmond Hill High School, but was expelled although she later earned her GED. She ran away from home at 17, to escape her abusive stepfather, intending to study art. Her journey took her to Canada, where she spent two weeks in the woods with her dog Sparkle, trying to find herself. She eventually traveled to Vermont, where she took art classes at Johnson State College and supported herself working odd jobs. In 2019, Lauper gave the commencement address at Northern Vermont University – Johnson, the academic institution that now includes Johnson State. At this event, NVU bestowed upon her an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.
Lauper made her film debut in August 1988 in the quirky comedy Vibes, alongside Jeff Goldblum, Peter Falk, and Julian Sands. Lauper played a psychic in search of a city of gold in South America. Deborah Blum and Tony Ganz produced the film, with David Wolff as associate producer. To prepare for the role, Lauper took a few classes in finger waving and hair setting at the Robert Fiancé School of Beauty in New York, and studied with a few Manhattan psychics. The film flopped and was poorly received by critics, but would later be considered a cult classic.
Due to a friendship with Yoko Ono, Lauper took part in the May 1990 John Lennon tribute concert in Liverpool, performing the Beatles song "Hey Bulldog", and the John Lennon song "Working Class Hero". She also took part in Ono and Lennon's son Sean's project called the Peace Choir, performing a new version of Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance".
The song "Together" was featured in the Canadian animated film Racetime released in January 2019. Originally written and performed in French by Canadian singer and musician Dumas, Lauper performed the English translation in the English version of the film originally titled La Course des tuques.
