True Colors was an annual music event created by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper. The concerts were headlined by Lauper and featured various music and comedy acts. Beginning in 2007, the trek supported the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

PFLAG PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to ...

and the

Matthew Shepard Foundation The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT nonprofit organization, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, which was founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew. The Foundation runs education, outreach, and adv ...

. Other local and private

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

charities and foundations were supported as the event grew. The tour began with 16 shows in 2007 expanding to 25 shows in 2008. Lauper's set during the 2008 tour was basically the North American leg of her worldwide Bring Ya to the Brink Tour that year. An outing in 2009 was planned and later cancelled. In lieu of the tour, Lauper partnered with Broadway Impact to create the True Colors Cabaret. The show began September 28, 2009 and ran once a month at Feinstein's at Loews Regency. It featured performances from Lauper, Rufus Wainwright,

Lea Michele Lea Michele Sarfati (; born August 29, 1986) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and author. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway (theatre), Broadway, appearing in productions of ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérab ...

Jonathan Groff Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer . He began his career on Broadway, rising to prominence for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in the original production of '' Spring Awakening'' (2006-2008), for which h ...

, Jason Mraz,

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...

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, Melinda Doolittle and Broadway Inspirational Voices. The shows ran until February 2010.

Background

Logo TV was one of the partnering sponsors for the music festival. The channel aired a half-hour special on June 21, 2007 titled ''Shining Through: Behind the Scenes of True Colors''. The special was hosted by Cho at the MGM Grand in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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. During the special, Lauper explained the purpose of the True Colors Tour: The HRC received $1 from each ticket sold throughout the tour. The theme of the tour was about eliminating hate, specifically about getting the

Matthew Shepard Act The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a landmark United States federal law, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Auth ...

passed by the U.S. Senate. In October 2007, the US Congress approved the Matthew Shepard Act, accomplishing one of the goals of the tour. In 2008 True Colors tour visited 23 cities across North America with a cast of acts that was even more impressive than the previous year. The shows featured up to eight marquee names per night with several collaborations and an encore featuring every act on stage together.

Line up

2007

;Headliners *Cyndi Lauper *

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

* Erasure ;Support acts *

Cazwell Luke Caswell, known mononomously as Cazwell, is an American rapper, record producer and songwriter. He has released the three studio albums '' Get Into It'' in 2006, '' Watch My Mouth'' in 2009 and ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' in 2014, along with videos an ...

Amanda Lepore Amanda Lepore is an American model, singer, and performance artist. A former Club Kid, she has appeared in advertising for numerous companies. Lepore is noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle's work, serving as his muse, as ...

* Rosie O'Donnell *

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; ad ...

*Diana Yanez * Rufus Wainwright *

The Gossip Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah ...

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Hosted by Margaret Cho

2008

;Headliners *Cyndi Lauper *The B-52's *

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

;Support acts *Indigo Girls * Andy Bell *

Girl in a Coma Girl In a Coma was an American indie rock band from San Antonio, Texas, United States, formerly on Joan Jett's Blackheart Records label. The band consisted of Nina (vocals/guitar), Phanie Diaz (drums) and Jenn Alva ( bass). The name is a refer ...

* Regina Spektor * Tegan and Sara *

Colton Ford Glenn Soukesian, known professionally as Colton Ford, is an American singer, actor, and former pornographic actor. As of May 2007, he resides in New York City. Career Adult pornographic career Colton Ford appeared in a dozen gay adult celebrate ...

* Kat DeLuna * The White Tie Affair *DJ Paul V * Joan Armatrading *

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

*The Cliks * The Puppini Sisters *

Nona Hendryx Nona Bernis Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author. Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady ...

* Sarah McLachlan *

Lili Haydn Lili Haydn (born December 25, 1969) is a Canadian-born rock violinist, vocalist, actress, and composer. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Hay ...

*Margaret Cho *Rosie O'Donnell *

Wanda Sykes Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...

Kate Clinton Kate Clinton (born November 9, 1947) is an American comedian specializing in political commentary from a gay/lesbian point of view. Early life and education Clinton was born in Buffalo, New York. She was raised in a large Catholic family in the ...

Hosted by

Carson Kressley Carson Kressley (born November 11, 1969) is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. He was also the motivational host of the TV show ''How to ...

Setlist

Tour dates

Box office score data

Broadcasts and recordings

A True Colors commemorative album was released on June 12, 2007 through

Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital U ...

. Physical copies were for sale at the concerts and the album was also available online from the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. A reissue commemorative album was again released through the iTunes Store and was available for free download by concert attendees.True Colors tour album re-issue through itunes
www.itunes.com

References

External links

at the

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

on June 18, 2007 {{Margaret Cho 2007 concert tours 2007 in LGBT history 2008 concert tours 2008 in LGBT history Cyndi Lauper concert tours LGBT-related music events