<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: I\u2019m still learning. Sometimes you write something, you\u2019re like, \u201cWow, look at what we did! Genius!\u201d Then the next day you listen and go, \u201cWhat the heck were you thinking?\u201d It\u2019s always like that, but ain\u2019t that what we do?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Did you ever think that you wouldn\u2019t be able to write a song again?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: All the time. \u201cI suck! I know I suck!\u201d And then I feel like, \u201cOK, get this stuff out that sucks, and move on. Come on. It\u2019s three or four chords. How bad can it be? You\u2019ll find it.\u201d I still want to learn how to play the freaking piano. Even if it\u2019s Christmas songs, I just want to be able to go on the keys and not lose my place. And I\u2019ve been trying to learn. I can play all my vocal exercises on the piano.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: But no chords?<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Every time I go with the chords, I\u2019m like, \u201cWhere the hell was that chord? OK, two black \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: That\u2019s fascinating to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Cyndi: Jacket and pants by Noir Kei Ninomiya. Camisole by Libertine. Shoes Vintage Marc Jacobs via the Lido Archive. Gracie: Dress: Vintage Prada. Jewelry by Chanel. Tights by Wolford. Shoes by Miu Miu.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Listen, I can\u2019t even read a regular book without a piece of white paper underneath every line. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s because I got hit in the head with a lot of erasers. I have no idea. I went to Catholic school, but we had a lot of political differences, so I was asked to leave.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: You were asked to leave?<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Twice, once in third grade, and then again in fourth grade.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: For talking?<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Oh, no, no, no. For talking back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: They probably just didn\u2019t want to hear everything that you were right about. Don\u2019t infect the minds.\u2026 How do you feel being off tour now? We just finished a week ago as well, and it\u2019s been a straight four-year run, pretty much.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: The first time, it\u2019s a little shocking, ain\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: The whole thing is constantly shocking. I also find the dopamine-hit piece of it all interesting to contend with, when you stop for even two days. My greatest takeaway from touring, especially over the past year, because I was feeling kind of existential about it right after the election and everything was on fire \u2026 it turns out the best and highest use of my being here on this planet is for the two hours a night that people feel they can come and have some place to, at the very least, be around strangers who are expressing anything loudly. We don\u2019t even really get that these days.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: It\u2019s a community. And that is where we win as people.\u2026 What was the first song you wrote?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: The first song I wrote was about losing my journal that mattered more than anything to me. And it was about feeling deeply disappointed in my lack of responsibility around something that meant so much. It\u2019s a loss.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: When was that?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I was, like, eight years old.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Yeah, OK. I mean \u2026<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: [Laughs.] Like, a real significant [song]?<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: When you stepped forward and became Gracie Abrams.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: The songs I was writing at home, the theme was always about feeling a little bit stuck, and not really knowing how to articulate that to other people. So, I felt generally better when I would not verbalize to another person, but instead just write, write, write. And a lot of the songs that I felt drawn to when I was younger, there was always, in it, some kind of tension between \u2026 place? If that makes sense? \u201cRiver\u201d by Joni [Mitchell] is a great example.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat to me felt like a North Star way to articulate a desperation to get somewhere. Those were the songs that I started feeling compelled to write initially. But I don\u2019t know. Today, I\u2019m in an interesting place psychologically about it all. Hearing you talk about the whole point of writing and reflecting on the world that we\u2019re living in, I feel called more than ever to \u2026 that\u2019s what I\u2019m writing about these days.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: I\u2019m trying to write a song now for somebody, and I\u2019m so frustrated. For me, the best is always a trance-like state where it\u2019s peaceful, and that\u2019s where it comes out.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Yeah. I feel like \u201cDeath Wish\u201d is a good example of that. I don\u2019t really remember writing it. It was the kind of thing where the song was done and then you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, that feels like we just pulled it out of thin air.\u201d It\u2019s almost like you black out for a second and then come back, and the song\u2019s there, which is bizarre. I love that feeling. That is the drug.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Kind of addictive, yeah.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: And then when there\u2019s space between experiencing it, I always get into this cycle where I\u2019m like, I feel like I\u2019m never, ever, ever going to be able to get back to that thing.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: You always feel like that.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Yeah, exactly.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: [So] your father was an artist and your mother was a Cyndi fan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: [Laughs.] Yeah, and that\u2019s the entire identity. I was very private about the fact that I was playing music\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: You didn\u2019t perform for your parents?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: No, never. I wanted nothing to do with any of that. I just felt like my body shut down if I was playing or singing something I wrote. And I would hear someone walk by, I would stop. Because it felt like the opposite of what I know to be powerful now, which is the invitation for people to just be connected to something, period. Obviously, I wasn\u2019t thinking like that at all. I was thinking selfishly: \u201cThis is something that makes me feel better. It makes me feel like I can process this stuff in my head, but it\u2019s not for anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Wow. Now, you\u2019re a performer.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: So that was an interesting thing to get over. But it was so scary, and I loved being wrong about it. I had never played a show ever, prior to Covid. So after the pandemic was the first show I ever played, and the night before, I was awake the whole night throwing up because I was so anxious about it, so scared. And then I was just immediately wrong because it\u2019s\u2014<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: It\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to fight. I\u2019m scrappy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cyndi Lauper<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: It\u2019s fun. I felt very filled up by the fact that you know other people are having a good time.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Where\u2019d you perform?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: In Orange County [California] at the Observatory. It was like 100 people. It was the tiniest thing.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: But the Observatory, that\u2019s pretty cool, because it\u2019s outer-space stuff. So what\u2019d you wear?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I wore a gray dress and blue Converse, and I didn\u2019t brush my hair and it was\u2014<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Was that like a big \u201cFuck you\u201d?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I think I was so paralyzed with fear that I didn\u2019t quite consider all these parts, but it was\u2014<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Oh, because you were a little grunge there. You did a whole grunge thing.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I suppose. Maybe not so consciously, I was just like, \u201cWhat\u2019s something I wear on a daily basis?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Gray, like a spacesuit.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I like that interpretation of it. I\u2019m going to tell people that that was what I was thinking.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Yeah. Hell with it.\u2026 What was [your] first hit?<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I have one song [\u201cThat\u2019s So True\u201d] that I think would fall under that category. I wrote it with my friend Audrey [Hobert], who is such a smart writer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: I saw her with you onstage.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: But it\u2019s a song that, to us, in real time, felt like a bit of a joke in a great way. It made us laugh so hard. Working with her was a surprise for our friendship, because we didn\u2019t know that we would ever do that together. It just came about.\u2026When you get to take time, if you\u2019re not writing a song or if you\u2019re not on tour, what\u2019s\u2014<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: I clean the house, and while I\u2019m cleaning, all this stuff comes to me. I don\u2019t know why.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Because you\u2019re in motion, maybe.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Mother used to say to \u201cplease clean up the room,\u201d and then I\u2019d sit and play guitar. I had the Beatles\u2019 pictures all around, each one on each wall.\u2026 My teachers used to say you have to draw at least one hour every day. It\u2019s interesting to hear how different people go about their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: You said that you\u2019re currently trying to write a song for someone. How does that go down?<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Well, I\u2019ve been doing this stuff for [Broadway] shows, and it\u2019s easier and it\u2019s harder, because it\u2019s never going to be your voice. So you got to find out what the hell their jam is. And then you got to find out what register they sing in. You got to make it sound like it came out of their head. Kinky Boots [the musical; music and lyrics by Lauper] was different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: How long did that take?<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Started in 2008, and it opened 2013. It was quick. This one\u2019s been at least 10 years. But the project is worth it, because it\u2019s worth examining the history of it, and where we are now. It\u2019s the musical adaptation of Working Girl.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: That\u2019s going to be so unbelievable when it\u2019s out in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201c[I\u2019m] more and more grateful to the fact that I was raised in a house where your music was playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gracie Abrams<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: I hope so. It\u2019s going to La Jolla [California] now, and we\u2019ll see. What works in La Jolla might not work in New York, but at least you get to see it.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Totally.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: It\u2019ll be fine. I\u2019ll just keep working until it\u2019s right. But listen, I\u2019m fascinated by what you\u2019re talking about. And I was told you wanted to talk to me. When I listened to your work, I was like, \u201cWell, this is really interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I just was really beyond \u2026<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Well, because your mother tortured you with me, so \u2026<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Thank God!<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: It\u2019s handed down. I know.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: But that makes it mean everything. I feel that way the older I get. [I\u2019m] more and more grateful to the fact that I was raised in a house where your music was playing. Now, separately, as my own person and the life that I \u2026 Well, I\u2019m able to apply your songs to my personal experiences. Whereas before, I think the reason, obviously, that my mom was so drawn to your music is because she had a lifetime of instances where you soundtracked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Well, I\u2019m surprised you weren\u2019t dancing around.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: I was very shy. I\u2019m still working through all of this, which is maybe felt [laughs]. But I feel like the horizons [have] broadened a bit the more that I learn.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: You\u2019ve been out on tour for four years. Holy cow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Now that the album cycle is over, the next album isn\u2019t made, I don\u2019t know what I want to say yet. I feel really\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: Well, take a breath.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: But it\u2019s really wild to hear you talk about the way that you approach all of what you do. Because I think that there\u2019s such conviction in everything. It\u2019s actually having something to say, not just making noise for the sake of making noise.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: But you\u2019re not doing that.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Well, I hope not.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: No, you\u2019re not. Listen, [you mentioned] a song where you had the music first, and then you sang. The repetitiveness and the rhythm of those words \u2014 that\u2019s really hard to do, and it was terrific.<\/p>\n
\n\tAbrams: Thank you.<\/p>\n
\n\tLauper: You got your whole life now. It\u2019s going to be really great. You\u2019re going to make it. You are going to write the book.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n
Production Credits<\/p>\n
CYNDI Styling by NIKKI FONTANELLA. Hair by JUTTA WEISS. Makeup by NAFRA GONZALEZ. GRACIE Styling by SPENCER SINGER for SN37. Hair by BOBBY ELIOT at THE WALL GROUP. Makeup by EMILY CHENG at THE WALL GROUP. Digital Technician DUSTIN BETTERLY. Photographic assistance TIM YOUNG and NICK THOMSEN. Video Director of Photography: WILL CHILTON. Camera operators: HALEY SNYDER, SOPHIE POWER, ALEX CANTATORE. Editor GRAHAM MOONEY. Audio engineer GABE QUIROGA. VFX MIGUEL FERNANDES
Location THE 1896 STUDIOS & STAGES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"F orty-two years ago, Cyndi Lauper told the world that \u201cGirls Just Want to Have Fun\u201d on her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[27740,56512,146,17402,85,46,409,56513,56514],"class_list":["post-81146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-cyndi-lauper","tag-direct","tag-entertainment","tag-gracie-abrams","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music","tag-musicians-on-musicians","tag-musicians-on-musicians-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/MoM2025-teaser2-e1760634569541.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n