CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cyndi Lauper didn’t just arrive in the 1980s—she exploded into it.

With her kaleidoscopic hair, Queens-by-way-of-cartoon accent, and that wild, elastic voice, she turned MTV into her personal technicolor stage.

So it made perfect sense that Chappell Roan, today’s own brand of flamboyant pop mischief, was chosen to induct her.

Roan squinted at the teleprompter—she’d forgotten her contacts—but somehow the flub fit perfectly into the night’s energy: unpredictable, joyful, and defiantly human.

Lauper’s 1983 debut She’s So Unusual wasn’t just a blockbuster album—it was a statement of intent.

Songs like “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Time After Time” cemented her as both pop’s prankster and its poet, capable of turning goofiness and heartbreak into equal art forms.

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