No.6: Cyndi Lauper
Before her breakout hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper was struggling to make ends meet. In 1980, her band Blue Angel released an album that flopped, and their manager sued them for $80,000 in damages.
Lauper filed for bankruptcy in 1981 and took odd jobs—singing in restaurants dressed in kimono and working retail—to survive. But in 1983, her solo debut album became a worldwide sensation, catapulting her to pop superstardom just a few years after she had hit rock bottom.
