Cyndi Lauper says Lionel Ritchie forced her to compete with Madonna

Cyndi Lauper shared that she regrets the comparisons between her and Madonna, saying that she wishes that they could have been friends instead.

The "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" singer reminisced about how she and her fellow '80s icon were often pitted against each other by fans and executives during their height of fame.

Lauper mentioned to the New York Times that she believed comparing the two singers was “like comparing apples and oranges.”

She also discussed how she and the "Like a Virgin" singer were frequently viewed as competitors, adding, "I would have liked to have a friend."

Her debut album, "She’s So Unusual," was released in October 1983, just three months after Madonna's self-titled debut album.

Both pop stars made a significant impact on the music world with their chart-topping albums released in the same year, inevitably leading to comparisons.

There was a moment in 1985 when Lionel Richie had to decide between the two women for a feature on the popular charity song "We Are the World."

“We had only half a line to sing. Let me say this now: half a line. We had to have voices that people knew right away...She showed up and killed it. The point was, you have to have an identifiable voice, for whatever reason it was just, Cyndi had that,” Richie acknowledged during a February episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Reflecting on their competition for the line in the song back in '85, Lauper told Newsweek that even then, she didn't want to have any issues with her involuntary rival.

“She’s just doing her thing. My thing happens to be different,” she said.