Cyndi Lauper: 'Madonna wasn't my competition'

Cyndi Lauper has dismissed long-standing reports suggesting she and Madonna were rivals in the 1980s.

The 62-year-old released her first album, She's So Unusual, in 1983, the same year Madonna released her self-titled debut.

Cyndi's enjoyed chart success with hits like Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Time After Time, while Madonna hit the top of the charts with smashes including Material Girl, Holiday and Lucky Star.

But despite the fact both pop stars made a major mark on the music business, Cyndi never felt they were adversaries.

"She's great," she told Britain's Event magazine. "She always did great. We were like apples and oranges. I always hated it when they (the media) pitted us together. I never felt in competition, except when the press did that."

Cyndi has always been a fan of the 57-year-old's work, and thinks they both had their own strengths, which made them successful.

"They'd say I was more talented than her," she recalled. "Well, maybe at some things. Sisterhood is a powerful thing, and everybody influences everybody else. If we don't, why are we on the planet?"

Cyndi has found a new 'sister' in Lady Gaga, after the pair joined forces for a Mac Cosmetics Viva Glam campaign in 2010.

"'I was with my little sister freak," she smiled. "She started dancing and I said, 'Gosh, I used to dance like that, too.' She looked at me and said, 'Cyn, how do you think I learned!'"

Cyndi's style has always been unique, which explains why she was such a major influence on the likes of Gaga, but she admitted to the publication her first record label tried to make her a more conventional pop star.

"(I) got fed up with the whole industry," she admitted. "I was at the same company way too long. I even kept a manager who sat beside me and told me I was never going to be as big as I was in the beginning. And I stayed! That's how stupid I was."