Singing legend Cyndi Lauper gave two teenage street performers a taste of overnight success when she invited them to perform with her at a concert this month in Charlotte, North Carolina, The Associated Press reported.
Lauper and her manager, Lisa Barbaris, were walking along a Charlotte sidewalk after dinner when they stopped to listen to Mya and Ronald Worley, who were performing on a corner as their father looked on, according to The Charlotte Observer. Mya, 14, was singing Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like a Star,” accompanied by her 13-year-old brother, who was playing keyboard.
On the spot, Lauper decided she wanted the young musicians to perform with her the next night.
“I thought it was a dream,” Mya told WSOC. “I was like, ‘What are you serious?’ I was shocked.”
Less than 24 hours later, Mya and Ronald joined Lauper on stage before a crowd of 16,000 at the Spectrum Center, AP reported.
“So yesterday ... I was walking around, and I happened to hear these two kids, and it was kind of awesome,” Lauper told the audience as she introduced the siblings, according to the Observer. “When I heard Mya sing — honestly? Hell’s bells, girl. You’ve got so much beauty in your voice.”
Then Mya sang the first part of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” accompanied by her brother on keyboard.
“That was my first time playing with a live band,” Ronald told WSOC. “That was my first time, and I loved her band members. (They) were really nice. Even when you mess up, they show you how to do it better.”
