“They got a little (rough) with her. I called them out and said they were sexist, chauvinistic and why shouldn’t she (do it) so basically shut the hell up!” How Cyndi Lauper defended Yoko Ono against the British press

Cyndi Lauper has been talking about the We Are The World session, her friendship with Yoko Ono and how - like everyone, it seems - she’s fallen for Chappell Roan.

She was talking on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on which there’s a segment, Plead The Fifth, in which interviewees can only say no comment to one question. 

Lauper, trouper that she is, didn’t demure throughout. Even on the vexed question of whether Madonna should have taken her spot on We Are The World.

A few months ago, Lionel Richie – who co-wrote the song with Michael Jackson – was quoted as saying that that it was “a mistake” to choose her over Madonna for the track. 

Lauper was asked if she agreed with that and if she’d spoken to Richie since.

Plead the Fifth: Cyndi Lauper Thinks Madonna Should Have Sung on We Are the World | WWHL - YouTube

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“Of course I’ve spoken to him,” she said, before adding diplomatically, “I think it was a mistake not to invite Madonna, but they chose me to sing that spot.” She also spoke about how overwhelmed she felt being in the same room with “all the greatest singers, all these people you grew up with. I didn’t even think – I was just like ‘aaah!’ because I couldn’t believe it.”

She also revealed that she defended Yoko Ono during the time of the 1990 tribute concert that she organised in memory of her late husband in Liverpool. Reviews of the show were poor, with a less than capacity crowd. As the moving force behind the gig, Yoko copped much flak from the British press. 

“I did that Liverpool thing and the press got a little (rough) with her,” she remembers. “I called them out and said they were sexist, chauvinistic and why shouldn’t she (do it). She’s an artist and she’s promoting her husband, and (so) basically...shut the hell up.”

And she was also asked about one of the most-talked about artists of the year: Chappell Roan. Cyndi, it seems, is a fan. “I think she’s great – for the hair alone,” she quipped. “And for the fact that it’s like performance art, and so visual.”

Cyndi Lauper Praises Chappell Roan’s Performance Art | WWHL - YouTube

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Lauper, now 71, is about to embark on her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell tour. She plays Rock in Rio this Friday, before North American dates this autumn. The tour reaches the UK next February, with dates pencilled in for Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham and a night at London’s 02.