Cyndi Lauper is Rock in Rio’s latest confirmation to join the festival’s program on June 27th, deserving of a specific name that says it all: Legends Day. At 72 years old, the American singer, songwriter and actress returns to Rock in Rio, which, in a statement to which DN had access, describes her as “the absolute queen of world pop and rock, an unavoidable cultural reference and a voice that spans generations“. It will be Cyndi Lauper’s debut in Portugal.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun, True Colors or Time After Time they are part of the collective imagination, and Portugal is no exception when it comes to knowledge of Cyndi Lauper’s repertoire. Therefore, the Rock in Rio organization guarantees that Legends Day will be “a historic landmark“.
Cyndi Lauper joins other international names that were already confirmed, such as Rod Stewart, 4 Non Blondes and Joss Stone, all on the day designed to celebrate authentic global music legends. The artist will perform immediately before Rod Stewart, creating an unprecedented meeting between two of the most notable voices in pop and rock music. For now, the festival speaks “in a simply epic and unrepeatable lineup” on June 27th, which is simultaneously a “meeting of the titans“, taking into account that Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper are “two of the greatest voices in global music“.
For Roberta Medina, executive vice-president of Rock in Rio, this confirmation adds even more meaning to the event: “Having Cyndi Lauper on Legends Day, alongside such iconic artists, represents everything that this edition celebrates: legacy, emotion, diversity and the strength of this unstoppable feminine energy. The public will experience something they will never forget.”
Roberta Medina, in the statement, recalls that “Cyndi Lauper’s show at Rock In Rio Brasil, in 2024, was one of the festival’s most memorable“.
Activism and art, on and off the stage
The artist debuted in the early 80s with the album She’s So Unusuala worldwide phenomenon driven by classics such as Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Time After Time, which reached the Top 5 on Billboard and are a regular presence on radio, events, playlists and social media trends. In 1986, he released his second album, True Colorswhich reached 4th place on Billboard, which established her as an unmissable voice. Since that moment, Cyndi Lauper has released more than 10 albums.
The artist has 15 Grammy nominations, two American Music Awards, seven American Video Awards, eighteen MTV Awards and, in 2013, she became the first woman to win alone the Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical Kinky Boots. She was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2015), received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2016) and was honored with the Billboard Women in Music ICON Award (2018) and the United Nations High Note Global Prize (2019). In 2023, the documentary Let the Canary Sing celebrated his life and career, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival and being released globally on Paramount+ the following year.
Off stage, she is a long-time activist for women’s rights and the LGBTQIA+ community. In 2008, she co-founded True Colors United, dedicated to combating the problem of homeless LGBTQIA+ youth, and in 2022 she launched the Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights fund, created to support causes related to women’s rights and health.