Over 40 years since She’s So Unsual rocked the Billboard charts, Cyndi Lauper is still inspiring new generations of pop stars — take Chappell Roan‘s word for it.
Ahead of inducting Lauper into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, Roan took a moment to reflect on the different ways the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” singer inspired her approach to pop music and performance.
“I’m so excited to be inducting Cyndi Lauper into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Roan says in the clip, which was posted to the Hall’s official Instagram page and featured Lauper leaving heart-eye emojis in the comment section. “She has inspired me with her fashion, her hair, of course, her makeup, her music. I actually auditioned with ‘True Colors’ for America’s Got Talent when I was 13! I didn’t make it, but the song is still incredible.”
Roan, who achieved a culture-shifting breakthrough in 2024, bears several musical and aesthetic similarities to Lauper. “Hot to Go,” a Hot 100 top 20 hit (No. 15) from her smash debut album Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, pulls directly from Lauper’s relentless synthpop playbook. Plus, both singers are also winners of the prestigious best new artist Grammy; Lauper won in 1985 and Roan followed four decades later in 2025.
After the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, where Roan mounted a Joan of Arc-themed performance of “Good Luck, Babe,” Lauper praised the breakout star’s “performance art.” “And it’s visual, it’s so visual,” she added during her appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live (Sept. 15, 2024). “You know I love those visual things, obviously.”
Though Chappell has yet to release her sophomore studio album, she visited the Hot 100’s top 10 twice this year with two new songs. While the country-tinged “The Giver” reached No. 5, “The Subway,” a sweeping ballad, reached No. 3, marking the highest-peaking Hot 100 entry of her career so far. Following Lauper’s Rock Hall induction, Roan will play the final show of her Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things Tour at Mexico City’s Corona Capital Festival on Nov. 14.
Earlier this month (Oct. 5), Lauper’s Hollywood Bowl-set Grammy Salute special aired on CBS and Paramount+, featuring performances from Joni Mitchell, Cher, John Legend, SZA, and, of course, Lauper herself. On Oct. 6, Lauper announced her first-ever residency, which will commence in April 2026 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Check out Chappell Roan’s sweet tribute to Cyndi Lauper here.
