Cyndi Lauper has hit out at the suggestion she harbours a decades-long rivalry with fellow pop icon Madonna.
The 70-year-old Girls Just Wanna Have Fun singer will soon embark on a farewell tour as she prepares to hang up her performing mic for good.
But ever since she first burst onto the music scene in the 1980s, there has long been a suggestion that she and Madonna, 65, don't see eye to eye.
Cyndi has rubbished this claim, however, saying the pair were pitted against each other by the media, that their music stands out for different reasons, and laments the fact that she could have been a firm friend of the Queen of Pop.
Speaking to the New York Times about the alleged feud, Cyndi laments, "It was like apples and oranges... I would have liked to have a friend."
This week, Cyndi announced her farewell tour plans and she has now explained she wants to bow out on performing live while on a high.
She told the publication, "I don't think I can perform the way I want to in a couple of years. I want to be strong."
She also added that she is taking a strict approach to preparing for her 23-date tour. She has been combining yoga with weight exercises, vocal coaching four days per week, physical therapy and a healthy diet, saying, "When you're a singer, you have to be an athlete. You can't (expletive) around. When you're 20, yeah. But when you get older? No."
