Award-winning recording artist, composer, lyricist, and advocate Cyndi Lauper has been named the first recipient of The High Note Global Prize, an award honoring and celebrating major recording artists for outstanding achievement in using their music and celebrity platform to advocate for social justice worldwide.
On UN Human Rights Day, which is December 10, The High Note Global Prize will be presented to the iconic pop star by UN Human Rights along with international recording artist and social activist Kesha at Cyndi Lauper’s “Home for the Holidays” benefit concert in Los Angeles at The Novo.
Lauper is being recognized for her lifelong advocacy for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) people, as well as the significant achievements made by True Colors United, a nonprofit organization she co-founded in 2008 to prevent and end youth homelessness among LGBTQ youth.
In May 2015, her testimony to the U.S. Senate Sub-Appropriations Committee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development played a leading role in securing approximately $250 million in new annual federal funding over the past four years to invest in preventing and end youth homelessness in over 70 communities across America.
Each year, 4.2 million youth and young adults experience some form of homelessness in the United States and up to 40% are LGBTQ. True Colors United develops and implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ young people through a wide array of training & education, technical assistance, advocacy, and youth collaboration programs. The organization has impacted the lives of millions of LGBTQ youth and brought the critical issue of youth homelessness to the forefront of government, public, and media awareness.
“We are proud to support The High Note Global Initiative in an effort to galvanize global mobilization for human rights, and at the same time honor artists who passionately use their work to promote and protect the rights of others,” said Laurent Sauveur, Chief External Outreach, UN Human Rights.
Along with Kesha, celebrities paying tribute to Lauper and True Colors United on UN Human Rights Day will include Lily Tomlin, Billy Porter, Brandi Carlile, Belinda Carlisle, Charlie Musselwhite, Henry Rollins, Margaret Cho, and Carson Kressley, among others. Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Kacey Musgraves, RuPaul, and Tegan & Sara are among the artists who have donated items and experiences for a charity auction with 100% proceeds supporting True Colors United programs.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) has a unique mandate to promote and protect all human rights for all people. Under the leadership of the High Commissioner, with a staff of 1,300 working in more than 70 countries, it aims to make human rights a reality in the lives of people everywhere. Its flagship campaign “Free and Equal” is a call to stand up for the rights of LGBTI people across the globe. For more information, visit: ohchr.org and unfe.org.
Cyndi Lauper is a Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning songwriter and performing artist with global record sales in excess of 50 million. Lauper won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist with her first album, She’s So Unusual, and became the first woman in history to have four top-five singles from a debut album. Since then, Lauper has released ten additional studio albums, yielding timeless classics like Time After Time and True Colors, and the anthemic Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. She’s been nominated for 15 Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, seven American Video Awards, and 18 MTV Awards.
In 2013, Cyndi Lauper became the first solo woman to win Best Original Score (music and lyrics) for Kinky Boots. Lauper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015, released a New York Times best-selling memoir, and continues to collect impressive accolades across the music industry and beyond. In addition, Lauper is tireless in her advocacy work, always fighting for the underdog, especially women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ people. Her commitment runs so deep that she started her own charity, the True Colors United in 2008 to bring an end to homelessness amongst LGBTQ youth.
For more information, visit: highnoteglobal.org
