"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a single made famous in 1983 by the American singer-songwriter

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

, written by

Robert Hazard Robert Hazard (''né'' Rimato; August 21, 1948 – August 5, 2008) was an American rock musician from Philadelphia. He wrote, composed, and recorded (as a demo) the song " Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in 1979, which was recorded in 198 ...

in 1979, with some of the lyrics changed by Lauper. It was released by

Portrait Records Portrait Records was a sister record label, label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Notable artists Cyndi Lauper and Sade (band), Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the lab ...

as Lauper's debut single from her first solo album, ''

She's So Unusual ''She's So Unusual'' is the first solo album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper, released on October 13, 1983, by Portrait Records. It stands out for its commercial success, achieving four top-five singles—a pioneering achievement for a fema ...

'' (1983). Lauper's version gained recognition as a

feminist anthem This is a list of songs described as feminist anthems celebrating women's empowerment, or used as protest songs against gender inequality. These songs range from airy pop affirmations such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, to sole ...

and was promoted by an

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

–winning music video directed by

Edd Griles Edward Mori Griles (November 18, 1945 – October 22, 2024) was an American television producer and music video director. Background Griles was born to Pearl "Corky" Griles (née Hirsch) and Daniel Griles (born Greilshiemer) in New York City, an ...

. It has been covered by more than 30 other artists. The single was Lauper's breakthrough hit, reaching 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and becoming a worldwide hit throughout late 1983 and early 1984. It is considered one of Lauper's signature songs and was a popular song during the 1980s. The lists "''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

: '100 Greatest Pop Songs': 1–50", "''Rolling Stone'': The 100 Top Music Videos" and "

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

: 100 Greatest Videos" ranked the song at No. 22, No. 39 and No. 45, respectively. The song received

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 ...

nominations for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

and

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

at the

27th Annual Grammy Awards The 27th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1985, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1984. Performers * Huey Lewis & Th ...

. Lauper released a new version, "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)", as the first single from her 1994 compilation album '' Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some''. It reached the top 10 in several countries. In 2013, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was remixed by

Yolanda Be Cool Yolanda Be Cool are an Australian music duo made up of Andrew Stanley and Matthew Handley. History In 2010, they collaborated with Australian producer DCUP (real name Duncan MacLennan) to release an international single " We No Speak Americano" ...

for the 30th-anniversary reissue of ''She's So Unusual''.

Background

The song was written in 1979 by

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

musician

, who performed it with various bands in the Philadelphia area, and enjoyed some local

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

airplay with a demo recording he made. Hazard wrote it as a rock song coming from the male perspective. Hazard's friend, producer

Rick Chertoff Richard E. Chertoff (born March 29, 1950) is an American record producer and songwriter. He is credited on the singles Joan Osborne's " One of Us", Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and " Time After Time" and Sophie B. Hawkins' " Damn ...

, brought it to

to record as a pop-electronic song. Lauper "flipped the script" and made it carry a feminist attitude by subtly changing some of the lyrics at the suggestion of Chertoff, and she had her own suggestions about how her version should sound. For the recording sessions, Chertoff brought in two longtime musician friends from

the Hooters The Hooters is an American rock music, rock band, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1980. They combine elements of rock, reggae, ska, and folk music. The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-1980s du ...

: keyboardist

Rob Hyman Robert Andrew Hyman (born April 24, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard and accordion player, producer, and arranger, best known for being a founding member of the rock band the Hooters. Early life Hyman started taking piano lesso ...

and guitarist

Eric Bazilian Eric Michael Bazilian (born July 21, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band the Hooters. He wrote " One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne ...

. Lauper later said that the Hooters were "my band before I had a band." The song appeared on Lauper's 1983 debut record ''

''. The track is a synthesizer-backed anthem, from a feminist perspective, conveying the point that all women really want is to have the same experiences that men can have. Gillian G. Gaar, author of ''She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll'' (2002), described the single and corresponding video as a "strong feminist statement", an "anthem of female solidarity" and a "playful romp celebrating female camaraderie." The song is in the key of

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

. The song's success overshadowed Hazard's own music career. His 1984 album ''

Wing of Fire ''Wing of Fire'' is the first full-length album by American musician Robert Hazard, released in 1984 by RCA Records. It was released two years after his successful EP ''Robert Hazard''. "Hard Hearted" was the only single from the album, an ...

'' was a sales disappointment at the same time that Lauper's version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was going Gold, making him a millionaire. After Lauper claimed in interviews to have co-written the song, Hazard served her with a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

letter. He was able to buy a New Jersey lake house and a horse farm from the song's royalties, although he said that federal taxes took most of the money.

Critical reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "Robert Hazard's original male point of view is transformed into a cheerleader-like sing-along for party girls, and the

Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her cover of the song " Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Austral ...

–like beat is augmented by a hooky, ringing guitar."

Chart performance

The song was released in late 1983, but much of its success on the charts came during the first half of 1984. The single reached the Top 10 in more than 25 countries and reached No. 1 in ten of those countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. It also reached No. 2 on both the UK Singles Chart and the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the United States, the song entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 80 on December 17, 1983. On the issue dated March 10, 1984, it peaked at No. 2, where it stayed for two weeks, behind

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

's "

Jump JuMP is an algebraic modeling language and a collection of supporting packages for mathematical optimization embedded in the Julia programming language. JuMP is used by companies, government agencies, academic institutions, software projects ...

". In the United Kingdom, the song entered the chart at No. 50 on January 14, 1984, and peaked at No. 2 on February 4, 1984, where it stayed for one week. In Ireland, the song entered the chart on January 29, 1984. It peaked at No. 1 for two weeks and was on the chart for a total of seven weeks. In Australia, the song debuted on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

Top 100 on February 27, 1984. It entered the Top 10 in only its third week on the chart and reached No. 1 on March 26, 1984. It topped the chart for two weeks and then remained at No. 2 for four weeks behind

Nena Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena (band), Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". I ...

's "

99 Luftballons "99 Luftballons" (, "99 balloons") is a song by the West German band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. An English-language version titled "99 Red Balloons" (), with lyrics by Kevin McAlea, was also released by Nena on the album '' 99 Lu ...

". It stayed on the chart for 21 weeks and was the 9th biggest-selling single of the year. In Belgium, the song debut at No. 38 on February 18, 1984, and peaked at No. 4 on April 7, 1984. In the Netherlands, the song entered the chart at No. 38 on February 25, 1984, and peaked at No. 4 on March 31, 1984. In Sweden, the song entered at No. 13 on March 6, 1984, and peaked at No. 5 on April 3, 1984, charting for six weeks. In Switzerland, the song entered the chart at No. 15 on April 1, 1984, and peaked at No. 6 on April 29, 1984. In New Zealand, the song debuted at No. 21 on April 1, 1984, and peaked at No. 1 on May 6, 1984, where it stayed for three weeks. In Austria, the single entered at No. 3 on May 1, 1984, which was its peak position. In Netherland and New Zealand "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" made the year end charts for the Top 100 of 1984. On the ARC (American Radio Chart), "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" reached number 1 and made the Top 40 songs of the year for 1984. In Mexico "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" stayed in the Top 5 for five months and reached number 1 on October 1, 1984; the song remained number one for six weeks.

Music video

The release of the single was accompanied by a quirky music video. It cost less than US$35,000 (), largely due to a volunteer cast and the free loan of the most sophisticated video equipment available at the time. The cast included Lauper's close friend, professional wrestler/

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

"Captain"

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

in the role of Lauper's father while her real mother, Catrine, played herself. Lauper later appeared in

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

storylines opposite Albano and guest-starred on '' The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' episode "Robo Koopa/Captain Lou is Missing", in which Albano portrayed

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

(Albano also played himself in the episode). This collaboration was the catalyst for the "Rock 'n' Wrestling" connection that lasted for the following two years. Lauper's attorney, Elliot Hoffman, appeared as her uptight dancing partner. Also in the cast were Lauper's manager, David Wolf, her brother, Butch Lauper, fellow musician

Steve Forbert Samuel Stephen Forbert (born December 13, 1954) is an American pop/folk singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary (chart ...

, and a bevy of secretaries borrowed from

Portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, Lauper's record label. A clip of the 1923 film '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' is featured as Lauper watches it on television. ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' creator

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...

, another of Hoffman's clients, agreed to give Lauper free run of his brand new million-dollar digital editing equipment, with which she and her producer created several first-time-ever computer-generated images of Lauper dancing with her buttoned-up lawyer Hoffman, leading the entire cast in a snake-dance through New York streets and ending up in Lauper's bedroom in her home. The bedroom scene is an homage to the famous stateroom scene in the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

' film '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935). "The year 1983 makes a watershed in the history of female-address video. It is the year that certain issues and representations began to gain saliency and the textual strategies of female address began to coalesce." In the video, Lauper wanted to show in a more fun and light-hearted manner that girls want the same equality and recognition boys had in society. Before the song starts, the beginning of her version of "

He's So Unusual "He's So Unusual" is a song from the late 1920s performed by Helen Kane, who was the inspiration for the Betty Boop character. The song was written by Al Sherman, Al Lewis and Abner Silver. Released on June 14, 1929, "He's So Unusual" was featur ...

" plays. The music video was directed by

. The producer was Ken Walz while the cinematographer was

Francis Kenny Francis Kenny A.S.C. is an American cinematographer. Background and education Kenny is a twice board member of the American Society of Cinematographers and member of the AMPAS Executive Committee for Cinematographers. Kenny was born in Ind ...

. The treatment for the video was co-written by Griles, Walz, and Lauper. The video was shot in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in summer 1983 and premiered on television in December 1983. The choreography was by a New York dance and music troupe called XXY featuring Mary Ellen Strom, Cyndi Lee and Pierce Turner. The music video crossed one billion views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in January 2022.

Awards and nominations

Accolades

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="1", 1983 , rowspan="9", "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" , American Video Awards for Best Female Performance , , - , rowspan="6",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the most prestigious competitive award and the final award presented at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. The award was created by the U.S. network MTV to honor artists with the best music video ...

, , - ,

MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist has been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 2006, the award was named Best New Artist in a Video. In 2007 its name was changed to Best New Artist, as the category un ...

, , - ,

MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of th ...

, , - , MTV Video Music Award for Best Concept Video , , - ,

MTV Video Music Award – Viewer's Choice The MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice was first awarded at the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 1994, the Viewer's Choice award nominees were the same as the Video of the Year nominees. In 1995 MTV created a separate set ...

, , - , MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance , , - , rowspan="2",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, ,

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, , , - ,

Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

, ,

Track listings

* 7-inch single :A. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" – 3:55 (

) :B. "Right Track Wrong Train" – 4:40 (

Ellie Greenwich Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", " Be My Baby", " Maybe I Know", " Then He Kissed Me", " Do Wah Diddy Did ...

, Jeff Kent) * 12-inch single :A. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Extended Version)" – 6:08 :B1. "Fun With V. Knutsn (Instrumental)" – 7:10 :B2. "Xtra Fun" – 5:05 * CD-Rom-Ringle In 2007, a limited edition which included interactive computer material and a code to download a free ringle of the title track was released. It also contained "Right Track, Wrong Train", the B-side of the original single release. # "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" # "Right Track Wrong Train" # Computer media

Credits and personnel

#Lyrics: Robert Hazard. Production:

. #Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper, Ellie Greenwich, Jeffrey B. Kent. Production: Rick Chertoff. *

– lead vocals, background vocals *

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night", the Bangles' hit " If She Knew What She Wants", and the Ignatius Jones and Allison Moyet ...

– backing vocals *

– bass *

Krystal Davis Krystal L. Davis, or simply Krystal Davis, is an American session musician and background singer for Herbie Mann, Evelyn King and Cyndi Lauper. Her single "So Smooth" was released in 1985 and peaked at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot Da ...

– backing vocals * Rick DiFonzo – electric guitar *

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952) is a South African session drummer perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band. David Letterman, for whom the band served as house band on his lat ...

–

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, often erroneously referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Development The LinnDrum was designed by the American engineer Roger Linn. It was ...

and Oberheim DX *

– keyboards,

Roland Juno-60 The Roland Juno-60 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1984. It followed the Juno-6, an almost identical synthesizer released months earlier. The Juno synthesizers introduced Roland's digitally contro ...

, synthesizers * Maretha Stewart – backing vocals * Diane Wilson – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

"Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)"

On September 5, 1994, Lauper released a new version, "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, as the first single of her first compilation album, '' Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some'' (1994). It incorporates a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

feel and an interpolation of "

Come and Get Your Love "Come and Get Your Love" is a song by the Mexican-Native American rock band Redbone. The song was originally released as a promo track under the name "Hail" and was later featured on their fifth album, ''Wovoka'' (1973), under its current na ...

" by Redbone from 1974. The arrangement evolved as she experimented with the song's style over the course of the 1993–1994 Hat Full of Stars Tour. The single reached the top 10 in several countries. It reached number 4 in the UK, becoming Lauper's first top-10 hit there since 1989 with "

I Drove All Night "I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until ...

". It reached number 4 in New Zealand. In the US, it reached number 87 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 following its August 8, 1995, release to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

; it is Lauper's last single to chart in the United States. She directed a new music video for the song by herself.

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from ''

'' noted that the "reggae-flavored

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

oriented remake" is being given a big boost from the film '' To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar''. He added, "Lauper still sounds in fine form on the very easy going kick-back track. Particularly fun is the jammin' guitar solo bridge in the middle of the single." In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

said, "The new version slows the track down to turn it into a far slinkier dance groove to quite inspired effect". Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' wrote, "Turning a familiar old favourite into a dance groove unusually required a drop in tempo here, reducing it to a slinky shuffle. The melody and Cyndi's excellent vocals are still its selling points, and the success of Cyndi's ''Twelve Deadly Cyns'' album suggests the timing could be right to make this a hit again." Tommy Udo of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' considered it a "totally unnecessary reworking" and commented, "It just sounds like somebody's hamfisted and amateurish remix that would normally be hidden away as track 18 – you know, the Will This Do? Mix by DJ Krap – although oddly enough, Cyndi herself had a hand in it all." He concluded, "She could still be bigger than

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the new version, directed by Cyndi Lauper herself and later made available on YouTube in 2010. It had generated more than 4.7 million views as of April 2025.

Track listings

* European CD single / UK cassette single # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Single Edit) – 3:39 # "Hat Full of Stars" – 4:27 * CD single (US/UK) / European CD maxi-single # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Single Edit) – 3:39 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (

Mikey Bennett Mikey Bennett is a Jamaican music producer, composer, musician and singer. Early life and influences Mikey Bennett was born into a Christian family in Jamaica. Church is where Bennett realised he had musical talent. At the age of 12, Bennett was ...

's Carnival Version featuring Patra) (Edit) – 4:09 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

's Home Grown Version featuring

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

) – 4:16 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (

Vasquez Vásquez is a surname of Galician origin, which later spread all over the Spanish-speaking world. Alternative spellings of the name include Vázquez or Vasques (particularly in regions with seseo), and Vasquez or Vazquez (in countries where Iberi ...

Remix Pop Goes the Dancehall featuring Snow) – 5:04 # "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Original Version) – 3:54 * Japanese CD single # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Single Edit) – 3:39 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Mikey Bennett's Carnival Version featuring Patra) (Edit) – 4:09 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Sly & Robbie's Home Grown Version featuring Snow) – 4:16 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Pop Goes the Dancehall featuring Snow) – 5:04 * Australian CD single # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Single Edit) – 3:39 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Pop Goes the Dancehall featuring Snow) – 5:04 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Dancehall Main featuring Snow) – 5:50 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Harder Dancehall featuring Snow) – 5:49 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Sly & Robbie's Home Grown Version featuring Snow) – 4:16 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Lounge Mix featuring Snow) – 6:12 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Mikey Bennett's Carnival Version featuring Patra) (Edit) – 4:09 * European 12-inch # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Pop Goes the Dancehall featuring Snow) – 5:04 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Dancehall Main featuring Snow) – 5:50 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Remix Harder Dancehall featuring Snow) – 5:49 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Sly & Robbie's Home Grown Version featuring Snow) – 4:16 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Lounge Mix featuring Snow) – 6:12 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Vasquez Lounge Dub featuring Snow) – 6:00 # "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Mikey Bennett's Carnival Version featuring Patra) – 6:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Race for Life version

In 2010,

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

arranged for a charity record for their

Race for Life Race for Life is a series of fundraising events, organised by charity Cancer Research UK. They involve running, jogging or walking a 5-kilometre, 10-kilometre or 'Pretty Muddy' course and raising sponsorship for doing so. The money raises funds f ...

campaign. It featured many celebrities such as ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' actress

Nina Wadia Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in '' Citizen Khan'', Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy ''Still Open All Hours'' and for starring i ...

, ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' actress

Kym Marsh Kimberley Gail Marsh (previously Ryder, Lomas and Ratcliff; born 13 June 1976) is an English actress, television presenter and singer. In 2001, she won a place in the band Hear'Say as a result of appearing on the reality television series ''Pop ...

, '' Life of Riley'' actress

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Amanda Jane Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances, portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie ...

, glamour girl

Danielle Lloyd Danielle Lloyd (formerly O'Hara; born 16 December 1983) is an English TV host, model, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss England 2004 and Miss Great Britain 2006. Lloyd first rose to prominence when she was strippe ...

, ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' finalist

Lucie Jones Lucie Bethan Jones (born 20 March 1991) is a Welsh singer, musical theatre actress, and model. Jones first came to prominence while competing on series 6 of '' The X Factor UK'' in 2009, where she was the fifth contestant eliminated. She repr ...

, singer Sonique (herself a breast cancer survivor), former ''EastEnders'' actress

Lucy Benjamin Lucy Benjamin (born Lucy Jane Baker; 25 June 1970) is an English actress. After appearing in various television series including '' Close to Home'' (1989–1990), '' Press Gang'' (1989–1993) and '' Jupiter Moon'' (1990, 1996), she was cast i ...

, and ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

''s Nicola T. The single was released on April 26, 2010. The physical edition was exclusively distributed to over 800 stores run by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

, an official partner of the event series. The digital edition was released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. The sales were to be used for cancer research. This version debuted at No. 1 and stayed on the UK charts for 21 more weeks.

Other versions

Hip house Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip-hop, which originated in both London and Chicago in the mid-to-late 1980s. A British collaboration between the electronic group Beatm ...

duo Happy Nation's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" samples the vocals from the 1990 song "Jammed in the USA" by Girls with Attitudes which itself interpolates vocals from "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". The single reached No. 77 on the UK Singles Chart in 1998. * English singer Lolly released her version as a single in 2000 from her second album ''

Pick 'n' Mix Bulk confectionery, pick and mix candy, candy walls, or simply loose candy is a retailing strategy where various types of confectionery are sold together in a large container or in separate bins, allowing customers to select the assortment and qua ...

'' which reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart. *

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

's 2012 song "

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a single made famous in 1983 by the American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, written by Robert Hazard in 1979, with some of the lyrics changed by Lauper. It was released by Portrait Records as Lauper's debut sin ...

" featuring rapper

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

from his album ''

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

'' interpolates "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". It charted in five countries in Europe. * Trinidadian-American rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

's "Pink Friday Girls" from her 2023 album ''

Pink Friday 2 ''Pink Friday 2'' is the fifth studio album by rapper Nicki Minaj, released on December 8, 2023 through Republic Records. A sequel to Minaj's debut album '' Pink Friday'' (2010), it fuses sounds from various genres with hip hop, R&B and pop. I ...

'' contains interpolated vocals from "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Despite not being released as an official single, the song still charted in both the US and UK, reaching No. 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart in 2023.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1979 songs 1983 debut singles 1994 singles 2010 singles Cyndi Lauper songs Robert Hazard songs Lolly (singer) songs CBS Records singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Portrait Records singles Cashbox number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Norway Song recordings produced by Rick Chertoff Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Robert Hazard Bubblegum pop songs Cover songs Feminist anthems

Background

Critical reception

Chart performance

Music video

Awards and nominations

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

"Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)"

Critical reception

Music video

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Race for Life version

Other versions

See also

References

External links