“I need to be able to continue the work and help to make a difference,” Lauper tells PEOPLE at the premiere of her new doc ‘Let the Canary Sing’

Cyndi Lauper.Credit : Theo Wargo/Getty Images

After receiving a nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year, Cyndi Lauper wasn’t on the list of inductees this time around — but she’s not sweating it.

On the red carpet for the Tribeca Festival premiere of Let the Canary Sing, a new documentary about Lauper’s life and career, she spoke to PEOPLE about why she’s OK with not making the Rock Hall’s 2023 class.

“I always felt that rock ‘n’ roll could save the world, and as a rocker, you have to be an activist,” the Grammy winner, who’s been a champion for LGBTQ+ and women’s rights throughout her career, tells PEOPLE at Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Cyndi Lauper.Theo Wargo/Getty

Lauper adds that the genre “was always counterculture” and her role has always been to “make the place better than” she found it. “That will never change with me, whether I get a badge or not,” says the “Time After Time” performer.

“I don’t need a badge,” she declares. “I need to be able to continue the work and help to make a difference… You have to remember to be human and help other humans.”

Over her 40+ years in the music industry, Lauper has practiced what she preaches. Last year, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, she launched the Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights Fund to support organizations fighting for the right to abortion and reproductive healthcare.

“When most women would say, ‘What are you, a feminist?’ And people would go, ‘Well, I’m really a humanist.’ I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m a feminist. I burned my training bra,’” she told PEOPLE at the time. “Then in 2017, I saw these young girls with these ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights’ signs, and I felt like, ‘You know what? It was all worth it.’ The little ones, they heard me.”

Cyndi Lauper.Bruce Glikas/Getty

Lauper was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — for the first time — earlier this year alongside Sheryl Crow, George Michael, The White Stripes, Missy Elliott, Iron Maiden, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, A Tribe Called Quest, Warren Zevon, Soundgarden, The Spinners, Kate Bush and Joy Division/New Order.

The 2023 class of inductees was announced last month, with Bush, Crow, Elliott, Michael, Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners making it in the performer category.

DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray are set to receive the musical influence award, while Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin will earn the excellence award.

Additionally, this year’s Ahmet Ertegun award, which is awarded to “non-performing industry professionals who have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock and roll and music that has impacted youth culture,” will go to Don Cornelius.

Of course, Lauper could potentially be inducted next year.

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