WHAT I KNOW NOW

AFTER 40 YEARS IN THE SPOTLIGHT, THE POP ICON OPENS UP ABOUT HER MARRIAGE, QUITTING TOURING & WHY SHE STILL JUST WANTS TO HAVE FUN

- GILLIAN TELLING

Cyndi Lauper has been a colorful fixture in the music world since she unleashed her debut album, She's So Unusual, in 1983. Now, four decades on, the 70-year-old star is having another moment. In June Let the Canary Sing, a documentary about Lauper's life, was released on Paramount+. This month she'll kick off her farewell Girls Just Wanna Have Fun arena tour. And if that's not enough to keep her plate overflowing, the Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner, who composed the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots, is adapting the 1988 film Working Girl into another Broadway musical.

Busy as she is, Lauper's thrilled to be on the road again. "I'm so excited," she says of the shows. "I'm working on merch, on costumes. This is the biggest thing I've ever done." But is it really her "farewell" tour? "Oh, hell yes! Trust me. I will not miss packing, unpacking or schlepping around," Lauper cracks. "But I am excited to do performance art and sing and make a show that people will feel is engaging. I want to lift them up, so when they leave, they're happy. But of course, who freaking goes to a concert and leaves unhappy?" Here the hilariously unfiltered pop trailblazer shares lessons she's learned about work, marriage (she's been wed to actor David Thornton, 71, since 1991) and getting older.

Music is more powerful than any drug.