I lucked out when I started to sing. I'd already experienced failing at everything else.

She refers to herself as a "Recovering Catholic". She appeared on the live finale of the eighth season of American Idol on May 20 2009 performing a duet of "Time After Time" with top-13 finalist Allison Iraheta accompanying the song on Appalachian dulcimer. Lauper also performed on the "Girls Night Out" headlining it with Rosie O'Donnell in the US.

Over the course of her career Cyndi Lauper has released over 40 singles and as of 2011 had sold more than 50 million albums. It spawned four top five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" "Time After Time" "She Bop" and "All Through the Night". She first achieved success in the early 1980s with the release of her debut solo album She's So Unusual in 1983 which was an instant commercial success.