Cidny Bullens (formerly known as Cindy Bullens; born March 21, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, who is best known for serving as backup vocalist on tours and albums with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

, providing vocals on the soundtrack of the 1978 feature film '' Grease'', and for nine critically acclaimed solo albums. In 2012, Bullens publicly

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as a transgender man and changed his name to Cidny Bullens.

Career

1970s: Early career

At the beginning of his music career, Bullens (then Cindy Bullens) was a

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

. In 1974, Bullens performed backing vocals on

Gene Clark Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...

's album '' No Other'', and

Don Everly Isaac Donald Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) was an American musician. Everly was one-half of the singing duo The Everly Brothers alongside his younger brother Phil Everly, Phil. Early life Don was born in Brownie, Kentucky on Febru ...

's solo album ''Sunset Towers.'' In 1975, he was one of the Sex-O-Lettes on the self-titled debut album by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes. Bullens also had featured backing vocals on

's 1975 album '' Atlantic Crossing.'' Throughout his career, Bullens made guest appearances as a backing vocalist on multiple albums, such as

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

' '' You Want It, You Got It'', among others. In the mid-1970s, Bullens nearly appeared on

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's ''

Rolling Thunder Revue The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–76 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who was a major recording artist and concert performer, to play ...

'' through his connection with

Bob Neuwirth Robert John Neuwirth (June 20, 1939May 18, 2022) was an American folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist. He was noted for being the road manager and associate of Bob Dylan, as well as the co-writer of Janis Joplin's hit son ...

. Instead, he became known for touring with

, as his backing vocalist on three major tours. Bullens featured on John's 1976 album ''

Blue Moves ''Blue Moves'' is the eleventh studio album by English musician Elton John. It was released on 22 October 1976 through John's own Rocket Record Company (his first for the label), alongside MCA Records in certain countries. John's second double ...

'' and on his hit song "

Don't Go Breaking My Heart "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee, released by The Rocket Record Company on 25 June 1976. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte B ...

", with

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known f ...

(both released in 1976). For the 1978 feature film '' Grease'' soundtrack, Bullens provided vocals on three songs ("It's Raining on Prom Night", "Mooning", and "Freddy, My Love"). The film's

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

was nominated for the 1979

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...

1978–1979: ''Desire Wire'' and ''Steal the Night''

Bullens' 1978 debut album '' Desire Wire'', was released on

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. For the single "Survivor", Bullens earned a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for

Best Female Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...

. In January 1980, Bullens entered the ''

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

'' with the song "Trust Me". It peaked at No. 90. In the following year, Bullens released his second album ''Steal the Night'', on

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

in 1979. The album was co-produced with guitarist Mark Doyle. Bullens performed with a live band, consisting of keyboardist Trantham Whitley, bassist Howard Epstein, drummer Thom Mooney, and Doyle. After having creative differences with the record company, Bullens left the label and struggled to re-enter the music business.

1980s–1990s: ''Cindy Bullens'' and ''Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth''

Bullens withdrew from the music business in the early 1980s to raise a family. In 1989, Bullens released his self-titled album. He returned in the early 1990s as a songwriter, touring, and recording artist. In 1999, Bullens' album '' Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth,'' was released on

Artemis Records Artemis Records was a New York–based independent record label, founded in June 1999 by Danny Goldberg with Daniel Glass as president, and closed in April 2006. The label was acquired by E1 Entertainment. As of 2006, Artemis Records was owned b ...

. The album was recorded in the first two years after the death of his daughter Jessie. It features

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

Beth Nielsen Chapman Beth Nielsen Chapman (born September 14, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter who has written hits for country and pop music performers. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. She is a two-time Grammy Award ...

, and

, with other additional musicians, including George Marinelli,

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

Kenny Edwards Kenneth Michael Edwards (February 10, 1946 – August 18, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, bassist, guitarist, mandolinist, and session musician. He was a founding member of the Stone Poneys and Bryndle and a long-time collaborator ...

, and Michael Rhodes.

Steven Soles Steven Soles is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and guitarist. Known also as J. Steven Soles, he was asked by Bob Dylan to join the band for his 1975–1976 "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour, he appeared on Dylan's album "Desire" and h ...

Tony Berg Anthony Rains "Tony" Berg (born October 21, 1954) is an American musician, record producer, and A&R representative, in which role he has been described as an "industry guru". Berg's music career began in the late 1970s as a session guitarist who ...

and Crowell co-produced a range of tracks on the album. It won the AFIM Best Rock Album in 2000.

2000s: ''Neverland'' and ''Howling Trains and Barking Dogs''

Since 1999, Bullens has toured extensively all over the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, has appeared on several major TV shows, including ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'', ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'', and ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987 to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012 to September 6, 2021. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was repla ...

'' and many radio and TV stations around the world. He is featured in two documentaries, ''On This Island'' and ''Space Between Breaths'' (and scored the music). Bullens wrote the music and lyrics for the musical ''Islands'' in 2000, which played on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

for a special performance at the

New Victory Theater The New Victory Theater is a theatre (building), theater at 209 42nd Street (Manhattan), West 42nd Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1900 as the Republ ...

in September 2001, two weeks after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. In 2001, Bullens released ''Neverland''; co-produced with

Ray Kennedy Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English Association football, footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy playe ...

, the album features

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

, and

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New wave music, new wave, blues, and country music, country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Gramm ...

. In 2005, he released '' Dream Number 29'', again co-produced with Ray Kennedy. The title track features

on piano.

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, h ...

sings a duet with Bullens on "This Ain't Love" and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

knuckleballer

Tim Wakefield Timothy Stephen Wakefield (August 2, 1966 – October 1, 2023) was an American professional baseball knuckleball pitcher. Wakefield began his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-year ...

adds his voice to "7 Days". In June 2010, Bullens' released '' Howling Trains and Barking Dogs'' on MC Records (Koch). The CD is a compilation of songs he co-wrote in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

during the early and mid-1990s with

Radney Foster Radney Muckleroy Foster (born July 20, 1959) is an American country music singer-songwriter, musician and music producer. Initially a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Foster made his recording debut as part of the Foster & Lloyd duo, recordi ...

, Bill Lloyd, Al Anderson,

Matraca Berg Matraca Maria Berg Hanna (; born February 3, 1964, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has released five albums: three for RCA Records, one for Rising Tide Records and one for Dualtone Records, and h ...

, Mary Ann Kennedy,

Kye Fleming Rhonda Kye Fleming (born October 9, 1951) is an American singer/songwriter and music publisher in Nashville, Tennessee. She is best known for writing a series of hit songs in the 1980s, making productive collaborations with artists Ronnie Milsap ...

, and Jimmy Tittle. The CD also includes two new songs written by him alone.

The Refugees

In 2007, Bullens formed a new group, The Refugees, with music veterans

Wendy Waldman Wendy Waldman (born Wendy Steiner on November 29, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Early life Waldman grew up in the Los Angeles area and was raised in a musical environment. Her father Fred Steiner was a ...

and

Deborah Holland Deborah Holland is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She rose to national prominence in 1987 as the lead singer and songwriter of Animal Logic featuring Stanley Clarke and Stewart Copeland. As of March 2020, Deborah Holland has released s ...

. Their first CD, ''Unbound'', was released in January 2009. Their second album "Three" was released in February 2012.

2020s: ''Walkin' Through This World''

In August 2020, Bullens released his first album as Cidny, ''Walkin' Through This World'', co-produced by Bullens and Ray Kennedy (

, Steve Earle,

). This new album is loosely themed around Cidny's gender transition, featuring the provocative first single "The Gender Line". Bullens is also the subject of the award-winning documentary short ''The Gender Line'' (directed by TJ Parsell and produced by Bill Brimm), which played in many film festivals worldwide in 2019–20.

Personal life

Bullens grew up in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. In 1979, Bullens married Dan Crewe, brother of songwriter/producer

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons. As a songw ...

, and divorced in 2002. Their daughter Reid was born in 1982. In 1996, their younger daughter, Jessie, born in 1985, died at age 11, of complications from

Hodgkin lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

. As an artistic outlet for coming out as transgender in 2012, Bullens debuted a "one wo/man show" entitled ''Somewhere Between – Not an Ordinary Life in February 2016''. ''

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

'' voted it to be the "Best One-Person Show of 2016".

Discography

Solo career

* '' Desire Wire'' (

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958 ...

, 1979) – LP and

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

. * ''Steal the Night'' (

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

, 1979) – LP and cassette. * ''Cindy Bullens'' (

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

, 1989) – LP, cassette and CD. * ''Why Not?'' (Blue Lobster Records, 1994) – Cassette and CD. * '' Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth'' (

, 1999) – LP, cassette and CD. * ''Neverland'' (Artemis Records, 2001) – LP, cassette and CD. * '' Dream Number 29'' (Blue Rose Records, 2005) – Cassette and CD. * '' Howling Trains and Barking Dogs'' (M.C. Records, 2010) – LP and CD. * ''Walkin' Through This World'' (Blue Lobster Records, 2020) - CD, digital

With the Refugees

*''Unbound'' (Wabuho Records, 2009) *''Three'' (Wabuho Records, 2012) *''How Far It Goes'' (Wabuho Records, 2019)

References

External links

Official websiteSomewhere Between: Not an Ordinary LifePortland Musician Shares Personal Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullens, Cidny 1950 births Living people 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers American male singer-songwriters American male pop singers American session musicians American LGBTQ singer-songwriters American transgender men American transgender musicians Casablanca Records artists LGBTQ people from Massachusetts MCA Records artists Singers from Boston Songwriters from Massachusetts Transgender male singers Transgender singer-songwriters United Artists Records artists 21st-century American LGBTQ people