Cyndi Lauper Voices Regret About Madonna Rivalry

Cyndi Lauper is looking back on her decades-long rivalry with Madonna. The 70-year-old “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer, who recently announced her farewell tour, opened up about being pitted against her fellow pop icon, 65, by both fans and the music industry as they entered the spotlight at the same time in the 1980s in a new interview with The New York Times.

“It was like apples and oranges,” Lauper told the outlet in an interview published June 4. Lauper and Madonna both released their debut albums in 1983, with the former gaining acclaim for her hit songs “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Time After Time” and the latter breaking through with her hit “Holiday.” Because of that juxtaposition, Lauper and Madonna were often looked upon as competitors, which is something the “True Colors” singer says she now regrets. “I would have liked to have a friend,” she told The New York Times.

Earlier this month, Lauper announced her plans for her farewell tour, which kicks off on Oct. 18 and takes her across North America to 23 cities before wrapping up her touring life on Dec. 5, according to events promoter Live Nation. Lauper explained that she wants to go out on a high when it comes to performing as she gets older, telling the publication, “I don’t think I can perform the way I want to in a couple of years. I want to be strong.”

Lauper has been putting in the work when it comes to preparations for her months-long tour, practicing yoga, lifting weights, and undergoing vocal coaching four days a week to get in performance shape. In addition, she’s been doing physical therapy and eating a health diet, confessing, “When you’re a singer, you have to be an athlete. You can’t (expletive) around. When you’re 20, yeah. But when you get older? No.”

Lauper is also the subject of a new documentary titled Let the Canary Sing, which is available on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada. Directed by Alison Ellwood, the documentary “chronicles Lauper’s meteoric ascent to stardom and her profound impact on generations through her music, ever-evolving punk style, unwavering feminism and tireless advocacy,” according to Paramount+.

“Over the years I’ve been asked to do a documentary about my life and work, but it never felt like the right time,” Lauper said in a press release at the time. “Until now. When I first met Alison Ellwood, I knew right away I could trust her to tell my story honestly, which was incredibly important to me, and she succeeded in that. I’d like to thank Alison, the producers, and all of the amazing documentary participants who agreed to be interviewed!”