Cyndi Lauper and Bad Company have something obvious in common. Both will be inducted into the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class. Both deserve the honor, as they spent years creating great songs, having hit records, and putting on excellent shows.
However, Bad Company would have likely not had much chance to be influenced by Lauper. They produced records a decade before the pop icon's debut was released. While the band kept making studio albums well into the 1990s, their sound was cast.
However, it didn't work that way for Lauper. While no one is going to hear her songs and think, "There appears to be a lot of Bad Company influence here," the truth is quite different. According to a recent interview Lauper did with Rolling Stone, if it weren't for a Bad Company track, who knows where she would be?
Cyndi Lauper gives some thanks to Bad Company
Lauper said she always saw herself as a backup singer. There was more freedom there, she thought. One could sing with their full range instead of being hemmed in by a potentially unimaginative melody. The other issue is that she thought she could not dance well, and kept falling down in platform shoes.
When a job opened for a lead singer for a band, though, Lauper jumped at the chance. She was rightfully nervous in front of a large crowd of beer-swiggling audience members who didn't know what to expect from her. She didn't know what to expect from herself.
Lauper said two songs helped her get on track: one by Free and the other by Bad Company. This implies that Lauper is a fan of Paul Rodgers, the lead singer of both bands. With a tambourine in hand and feeling the rhythm of the songs, Lauper never looked back.
Lauper is not yet sure who will induct her or who she will sing along with at the 2025 induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has an idea, though, and she would love it if the band backing her were all female. Not just because they are females, but because they are talented and fun. Because girls just want to have fun, of course.