Cyndi’s got the blues

Cyndi’s got the blues

Few could’ve predicted Cyndi Lauper would follow the credible, uber-gay career jolt that was 2008’s Bring Ya To The Brink with a collection of Southern, swampy blues covers. But Lauper’s never been predictable, and so has delivered Memphis Blues.

“I have been listening to the blues since I was a kid,” Lauper told Sydney Star Observer via email.

“Later on, I loved how Janis Joplin and acts like the Rolling Stones made it modern… so I always had this project in the back of my mind. [I’d been] wanting to do this record for a long time.”

To accomplish her dream, she assembled the best of the best — a list of blues heavyweights — to perform with her.

“The artistic energy from each of them was so palpable I would have to leave the studio sometimes because I would get so excited it brought me to tears, but I loved every single minute of it. I feel so privileged to work with these fantastic musicians; B.B. King, Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint, Jonny Lang…”

Memphis Blues is an accomplished work, but it’ll certainly take some getting used to for those who loved her last record, which seemed like a tailor-made gift for her gay fans.

“It’s funny you picked up on that, because you are the only one that has,” she said.

“In a way, [Bring Ya To The Brink] was something I wanted to do for my LGBT fans. I felt like there was a demand there, and it was a chance for me to express myself that way, so I did it.”

Of course, Lauper doesn’t just give back to her queer fans through her music — almost anything she does in the public spotlight, from the True Colors charity tour to her recent stint on Celebrity Apprentice, is used as an opportunity to speak out about gay rights issues.

“I feel fortunate that I have had those opportunities to help shine a light on the discrimination that my friends and family in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities face every single day all around the world. The main thing I think I can do to help the community is getting my fellow straights involved and educating them about the struggles our gay and transgender brothers and sisters need to overcome,” she said.

Still looking damn good at 57, Lauper intends to tour the new album in Australia in 2011 (with a sprinkling of hits thrown in, she promised). And she’s lost none of her trademark cheeky wit — just listen to last year’s Christmas duet with the

Hives, A Christmas Duel, where she delivers lines like “I wrecked your daddy’s car, and went down on your mother” with absolute gusto.

Whatever would the baby Jesus make of such an unholy Christmas carol?

“It’s not baby Jesus I’m worried about, I’m sure he will forgive me… I’m just hoping my son or mother never hears it!”

info: Memphis Blues (Inertia) is out now.

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