Loper, Cindy

The early years

Cindy Loper was born in the Queens district of New York with Fred and Katherine Loper. The father of the future singer was of Swiss origin, and her mother had Italian roots (her ancestors came from Campania ).

When Cindy was five years old, her parents divorced. Her mother left the house of her ex-husband, taking three children with her. She remarried and divorced again, after which she began working as a waitress in order to somehow provide for her children. It was at this time that Cindy began to listen to the recordings of such musicians as Judy Garland , Billy Holiday , Ella Fitzgerald and The Beatles . The girl’s mother in every way encouraged her desire for independence and creativity. At age 12, Cindy began playing the guitar that her sister gave her and composing poetry. She was very fond of art and music and always tried to find ways to express herself. Already at such an early age, Cindy began to dye her hair in bright colors and wear unusual clothes. In high school, she studied at a school for creatively gifted children, but did not finish it (although she passed the final exams later). Cindy left home when she was 17 years old. The reason for the escape was her "nightmarish" stepfather, who threatened to rape her and her sister and repeatedly spied on the girl when she was taking a shower. After that, Loper was a waitress, changed many works, but always knew that her main goal was to become a star in the music scene. In an autobiographical book called Cindy Loper. Memoirs ”, the singer says that in those days she often did not have enough money even to buy food. She often hitchhiked, which sometimes led to disgusting situations: one of the drivers forced her to have a sexual relationship. However, this was not the only rape in Loper's life. In the 80s, one of the members of the musical group with which she performed in Long Island clubs raped her with a dildo, but acted not alone: ​​the other two members of the group, women, kept Cindy so that she would not break out. For her, it was a shock in every sense. “Not only the guy did it. His accomplices were women. When this happened, I realized that rape is not only a man’s thing, women can commit it against women. ” .

Cindy left for Canada to study art, but spent only two weeks there. In the end, she entered one of Vermont's colleges.

In the mid-70s, Cindy was the vocalist of several New York cover bands. She sang songs by artists such as Jefferson Airplane , Led Zeppelin and Bad Company . In 1977, Cindy recorded her first single, a cover version of a Fleetwood Mac song called You Make Lovin 'Fun . In the same year, Cindy damaged her vocal cords and was forced to leave the stage performances. Doctors advised her to forget about the singer’s career forever. However, after working with a professional vocal coach, Cindy managed to restore her voice.

1978-1981: Blue Angel

In 1978, manager Cindy introduced her to saxophonist John Tury. The musicians began a collaboration and created the Blue Angel band. They recorded several demos of their songs and gave the tape to The Allman Brothers Band manager Steve Massarski. He told them that their songs were just awful, but he liked Cindy's voice. In the end, Massarski became the manager of the group, having bought their contract for 5 thousand dollars. Even then, Cindy offered to sign a contract as a solo artist, but she refused, feeling a duty to the group.

In 1980, Blue Angel recorded their debut album at Polydor Records . In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine recognized its cover as one of the 100 best albums of the new wave . Despite the positive reviews from critics, sales were more than modest. Personnel shifts occurred in the record company, and the new management refused to renew the contract with Blue Angel, as they did not have a single hit. Because of this, members of the group fired their manager. He filed a lawsuit against them for 80 thousand dollars. The lawsuit ravaged the group, and it broke up.

To make ends meet, Cindy began to earn extra money in stores, continuing to perform in local clubs. Musical critics familiar with her work during her work at Blue Angel noted the singer’s high potential, her wide vocal range (four octaves), her perfect ear and style. In 1981, during a performance in one of New York's bars, Cindy met David Wolff, who became her manager and helped sign a contract with Portrait Records , a subsidiary of Epic Records .

1983-1985: She's So Unusual

Cindy 's first solo album She's So Unusual was released on October 14, 1983. Gathering and polishing a whole mosaic of styles of the “new wave” in the tracks of this album, the thirty-year-old Loper suddenly became the idol of girls of secondary school age. A colorful role in its success was played by variegated costumes with rags and catchy videos for the songs “ Girls Just Want to Have Fun ” and “ Time After Time ”, which MTV created endlessly shortly before. The songs themselves were hugely successful in the charts: in the United States, four singles from this album entered the Top 5 . In 1985, Cindy received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

During this period, critics often compared Cindy with Madonna , due to the similarity of their stage images and repertoire. Many believed that Cindy was waiting for a much more brilliant career.

1986-1988: True Colors

Cindy's second album, True Colors, was released on September 15, 1986. He was not as successful as the previous one, but still the singles released from him were very popular. So, the title track , which since its appearance has been considered an ode to equality and one of the unwritten gay anthems, has lasted two weeks at the top of the American hit parade, and Change of Heart reached third place. It should be noted that at this time, Cindy has already moved away from the sound of a new wave, shifting towards pop music. In addition to new songs, the True Colors album included the song Maybe He'll Know , recorded during his work at Blue Angel, and a cover version of the song by Marvin Gay What's Going On .

In the summer of 1987, Cindy went on a world tour, according to the results of which a live video of Cyndi: Live in Paris was edited.

The following year, Cindy made her film debut . She starred in the movie Vibes with Jeff Goldblum and Peter Falk , where she played the clairvoyant who went in search of the treasures of the ancient Incas . For the soundtrack to the film, Cindy wrote the song Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China) , but she could not save the picture from low fees, and Cindy from unflattering critics.

In the same year, Cindy went to the Soviet Union as part of a project aimed at cooperation between Soviet and American songwriters. Together with Igor Nikolaev, she wrote the song Cold Sky , which was included in the collection Music Speaks Louder Than Words .

1989-1992: A Night to Remember

Cindy's next album was released on May 23, 1989. Although he received critical acclaim, his sales were significantly lower than the singer’s previous two works. The album contained only one hit - I Drove All Night , a cover version of the song by Roy Orbison , which he recorded before his death and did not include it in any album or collection. At the same time, Cindy terminated personal and business relations with her manager and lover, David Wolff.

In 1990, Cindy was among the stars invited by Roger Waters to participate in the rock opera The Wall in Berlin. In the same year, the singer met Yoko Ono at one of the national concerts dedicated to the work of John Lennon .

On the set of the action-packed film " Get Started, Let's Go " in 1991, Cindy met actor David Thornton . They began a romantic relationship. On November 24, 1991, David and Cindy got married.

1993-1995: Hat Full of Stars and Twelve Deadly Cyns

The fourth studio album by Cindy Hat Full of Stars , in which she co-authored each song, was released only in June 1993. Critics were delighted with the new work of the singer, noting her excellent vocal and performing data. The theme of her songs has also changed: from the love ballads of the previous album, Cindy switched to such controversial issues as abortion and racism . However, the album could only rise to 112th place in the US charts, which was much lower than Cindy's previous results. This can be explained by the numerous disagreements between the singer and the management of the record company and, as a result, the almost complete absence of album advertising.

In the same year, Cindy played with Michael J Fox in the comedy Life With Mikey . In this film you can hear the song Feels Like Christmas from Hat Full of Stars .

In 1994, Cindy tried to revive her career. She recorded a collection of Twelve Deadly Cyns ... and Then Some hits, which, in addition to old songs, included a remix of her hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun , a new version of I'm Gonna Be Strong from the Blue Angel album , as well as a new composition Come On Home . The collection was very popular in the UK, where he got to second place. In the United States, his successes were more modest. At the same time, Cindy's video collection of the same name was released.

In 1995, Cindy received an Emmy Award for her role as Marianne in the series Crazy About You .

1997-2000: Sisters of Avalon

In 1997, Cindy announced that she was expecting a baby. The boy was born on November 17. He was named Dicklin Wallace Thornton Loper in honor of Elvis Costello (his real name is Diclan) and William Wallace .

Cindy's next studio album, Sisters of Avalon, was released in late 1996 - early 1997 (depending on the country). Musically, the singer’s work moved to the dance direction. The singles released from this album have enjoyed great success in American clubs. Cindy continued the “serious” theme of her work, begun with Hat Full of Stars , addressing the themes of AIDS and transsexualism in her compositions. In support of the album, the singer went on tour with Tina Turner .

In late 1998, Cindy released a Christmas album . It includes cover versions of traditional Christmas songs, new compositions of his own composition, as well as a song previously included in the Hat Full of Stars album.

In 1999, Cindy recorded a cover version of Disco Inferno and received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Record. However, Cindy's longtime rival Madonna received the award for her composition Ray of Light .

2001-2004: Shine and At Last

Cindy Shine’s sixth studio album was set to be released on September 11, 2001. However, about a week before that, Edel , with which Cindy contracted after leaving Epic , ceased to exist, and the songs from the new album hit the Internet . In 2002, a mini-album was released , which included five songs from the unreleased Shine . In 2004, the album still saw the light, but only in Japan , where the work of Cindy is traditionally more popular.

In 2003, an album of her interpretations of classic pop songs of the mid-20th century called At Last was released . The album reached 38th place in the US charts , which was Cindy's best result since A Night to Remember 14 years earlier. For the performance of Unchained Melody, she was presented to the Grammy Award. In the same year, Epic Records released another collection of hits by Cindy, which was not particularly successful.

2005-2007: The Body Acoustic

In 2005, a collection of acoustic versions of Cindy's old songs, The Body Acoustic, was released . She performed most of the compositions in a duet with other musicians, such as Shaggy , Ani DiFranco and Sarah McLachlan . The collection also included two new songs by the singer - Above the Clouds , performed with Jeff Beck , and I'll Be Your River - a duet with Vivian Green.

In 2007, Cindy went on a True Colors Tour charity tour. She was joined by Deborah Harry , Erasure , The Dresden Dolls and other musicians.

2008-2009: Bring Ya to the Brink

In May 2008, Cindy released Bring Ya to the Brink , an all-in-one dance song. This work was quite successful, reaching 41 places in the US charts. Two singles from this album - Same Ol 'Story and Into the Nightlife - reached the top of Billboard's dance charts, and the album itself received a Grammy nomination in the category "Best Electronic / Dance Album".

At the end of 2008, the single A Christmas Duel was released , recorded together with the Swedish rock band The Hives . He was released only in Sweden and took 4th place in the national charts of this country - the best result of Cindy in her entire career.

In September 2012, Cyndi Lauper released an autobiographical book called Cindy Loper. Memoirs ”, in which she talked about her difficult path to the heights of show business, about sexual violence, which she suffered more than once, and why she has been a faithful ally of LGBT people for many years, protecting gay rights. “I tried to honestly tell how I felt like a woman who lives her own life and dictates the rules herself,” the singer explained in an interview with SiriusXM.

From 2009 to 2017, Loper starred ^[2] in the popular TV series "Bones" as the psychic Avalon Harmonia (Avalon Harmonia, real name is Stephanie Susan James) ^[3] . It is noteworthy that Cindy Loper has an album "Sisters of Avalon" (1996). It is also interesting ^[4] that the main character of the series Dr. Temperance Brennan , by his own admission, loves the songs of Cindy Loper from childhood ^[5] . In one of the episodes, Dr. Brennan even performs Loper's hit "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" ^[6] .

Cindy Loper has long advocated for LGBT rights. For several years in a row, she organized the True Colors tour, named after her musical hit, in which homosexual stars and their allies took part. This tour gathered a large amount of funds transferred by the singer to the fund of human rights organizations. Last year, with her money in New York, a shelter was opened for homeless LGBT youth - teenagers who were driven out of their homes by their own families, not wanting to put up with their homosexuality. The singer claims that she sincerely worries about these people, and that the reasons for this are very personal for her, not only because in her youth she drank grief herself, being forced to flee home. Among her friends there are gays, and her sister is a lesbian. “I am their friend, I am a member of their family,” Loper said of homosexuals. “And I'm not going to stand and watch my friends being discriminated against, because their civil rights and freedoms are cut back - this applies to both my sister and my cousin ... Stand, look at all this and keep your mouth shut.” 40 percent of homeless children are homosexual and transgender. And they appeared on the street only because they are homosexual, or transgender. We [the organizers of the shelter] thought it was fixable. ”

• 1983: She's So Unusual
• 1986: True Colors
• 1989: A Night to Remember
• 1993: Hat Full of Stars
• 1996: Sisters of Avalon
• 1998: Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life
• 2001: Shine
• 2003: At Last
• 2005: The Body Acoustic
• 2008: Bring Ya to the Brink
• 2010: Memphis Blues
• 2016: Detour

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