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‘Want to be a real artist? Keep going!’: Cyndi Lauper at 71 on self-doubt, success – and surviving sexual assault

She’s the subject of a new documentary, has just announced her farewell tour, and is about to play Glastonbury. The singer and songwriter discusses Trump, resilience and why she hated being pitted against Madonna

Once, as a teenager, Lauper caught him looking through the keyhole as she had a bath, and shortly afterwards left home, carrying only essentials – a toothbrush, spare underwear, an apple and a copy of Yoko Ono’s book of instructions and drawings, Grapefruit. She supported herself and raised money for gig equipment by working as a topless dancer, but grew sick of the degrading things men would do, throwing coins and insults at her. I feel in my heart people are fair minded, and when they are not, it’s because they are fearful and they don’t know When she appeared on Celebrity Apprentice in 2010, Donald Trump was still just a brash TV character; Lauper even wrote nice things about him in her book.

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