Cyndi Lauper Will Sing Beneath Ground Zero’s Twin Beams in Powerful 9/11 Tribute

Cyndi Lauper is preparing for one of the most emotional performances of her career. The pop legend will sing beneath the twin blue beams of Ground Zero's "Tribute in Light" on Friday, September 11, as America marks 25 years since the terrorist attacks that changed the nation forever.

Lauper's performance will conclude the first nationally televised broadcast of the annual light installation. Titled 9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan, the one-hour special will begin at 8 p.m. ET across ABC, Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic and ABC News Live. Country star Lainey Wilson and John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting are also scheduled to perform, while David Muir, Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer will host the program.

For Lauper, the invitation carries a deeply personal weight. The Brooklyn-born and Queens-raised singer recalled being outside New York City on the morning of the attacks and desperately trying to return to her family. She acknowledged that many victims never received that same opportunity.

"I am honored to sing for them, those that we lost, and the families and friends who remain, and for my city," Lauper said. "We will never forget."

Organizers have not yet revealed which song Lauper will perform, leaving viewers to wonder whether she might choose one of her emotionally charged classics such as "Time After Time" or "True Colors." Whatever she selects, the sight of Lauper singing as two towering columns of light rise into the Manhattan sky promises to become one of the anniversary's defining images.

The broadcast will honor the nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001, as well as survivors, grieving families, first responders and communities that continue to carry the consequences of that day. A companion program, Paying Tribute: Live from Lower Manhattan, will air beforehand and feature stories of courage, healing and resilience.

For Christians, the anniversary also offers a solemn invitation to mourn with those who mourn, remember lives that must never be reduced to statistics and pray for families whose grief has lasted a quarter of a century. The beams may illuminate an empty space in New York's skyline, but they also point upward-expressing the enduring human longing for comfort, hope and a light that darkness cannot overcome.