“I still believe that rock and roll can save the world.”
That’s what Cyndi Lauper told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show. The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee went on to list past efforts like Live Aid and “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” as important activism made possible by musical artists.
Now she’s adding her own initiative to the list.
‘Now I Should Hear Them’
Lauper is currently on the last leg of her “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” Farewell Tour and was on the show promoting it as well as The Girls Just Want To Have Fundamental Rights Fund and corresponding T-shirt.
The legendary pop star started this fund in 2022 after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to a press release from the Tides Foundation, which helped launched the fund. However, the slogan is from signs seen at the 2017 Women’s March, which inspired her line of charitable T-shirts.
- Lauper, a long-time ally to marginalized groups, also co-founded True Colors United in 2008 to help end homelessness among LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth.
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“I didn’t know how much the youth had really heard me,” Cyndi explained in reference to the origins of the fund. “I saw the sign and thought they heard me but now I should hear them.”
- On the tour and her online store, she also sells wigs with proceeds “supporting organizations that advance the fundamental rights and health of women and girls around the globe.”
The fund gives grants to organizations supporting women’s health, including safe and legal abortions, prenatal and postnatal care, aid for domestic violence victims, access to menstrual products and more.
Lauper reminisced on her past activism, explaining how “everyone was like ‘why don’t you just shut up and sing?’” But she didn’t then, and she doesn’t plan to any time soon. It’s a testament to her dedication and ability to show up for people time after time.
