Cyndi Lauper’s Long Career Comes with a Long Checkbook

Although she’s not Beyonce or Madonna, it goes without saying that Cyndi Lauper falls into the category of a once in a lifetime artist. From humble beginnings in New York during the 70s to becoming a pop culture trendsetter – with her distinctive clothing, hair, make up and overall sense of style – and everything in between, no one can deny that Lauper has left an indelible mark on the entertainment and music industry. However, it’s safe to note that her best career moments are behind her at this point in time, especially with talents like Taylor Swift sucking up all the air in the room. One may wonder – what is this icon’s net worth?

Long story short: Cyndi is goooooooooood. She never has to work again if she wanted to retire. But, let’s take a look back at how she found financial success and security over the last few decades. 

For a girl who suffered a vocal cord injury and was told she would never sing again, she boasts quite the impressive discography – as well as an enviable determination and backbone. Cyndi’s first two albums, She’s So Unusual (1983) and True Colors (1986), both debuted at #4 and went on to be certified multi-platinum for sales above 2,000,000. Her third album, A Night to Remember (1989), only peaked at #37 but still managed a gold certification for sales of 500,000. During this time, her chart success was fueled by top 10 hits including Girls Just Want to Have Fun (#2), Time After Time (#1), She Bop (#3), All Through the Night (#5), The Goonies Are Good Enough (#10), True Colors (#1), Change of Heart (#3), I Drove all Night (#6) and We Are the World (#1). 

Aside from Time After Time and True Colors, Girls Just Want to Have Fun is her most popular song – maybe even the most replayed on her entire resume. As of this writing, the accompanying music video has over 1,200,000,000 views and the track has over 910,000,000 streams on Spotify. Lauper has released nine other albums not listed above. Although they haven’t obtained the same level of chart success, they have received positive reviews around the world. Her most recent record, a country album titled Detour, hit shelves in 2016 and peaked at #30 overall and #4 on the country chart. During her music career, she also appeared as herself or original characters in numerous television shows including Mad About You, The Simpsons, That’s So Raven, Queer as Folk, Gossip Girl, 30 Rock, Bones, Bob’s Burgers and Magnum PI. 

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Can you say booked and motha’ fuckin’ busy? 

During her five-decade career, which started in 1980 if you include the Blue Angel album, Ms. Lauper has won dozens of awards. Most noticeable trophies would be 2 Grammy’s, 1 People’s Choice Award, 1 Primetime Emmy Award and 1 Tony Award as well as entry into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Get ’em, girl. And I can’t cap off this resume without mentioning Kinky Boots, the hit Broadway play based on the 2005 film, which features music and lyrics created by Cyndi. 

Let me also not forget to mention that this icon has always given back. She’s a spokeswoman for many causes and has been a steadfast supporter of gay rights; as seen with her charity True Colors United. She’s also a huge advocate for equal female rights; as seen with her second charity Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Human Rights Fund. We owe her a great deal of gratitude, indeed.

So, when everything is said and done, Cyndi Lauper can head to the bank with a net worth of over $50,000,000.