Cidny Bullens

Cidny Bullens (formerly known as Cindy Bullens; born March 21, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, who is best known for serving as backup vocalist on tours and albums with Elton John and Rod Stewart, providing vocals on the soundtrack of the 1978 feature film Grease, and for nine critically acclaimed solo albums. In 2012, Bullens publicly came out as a transgender man and changed his name to Cidny Bullens.

Career

1970s: Early career At the beginning of his music career, Bullens (then Cindy Bullens) was a backing vocalist. In 1974, Bullens performed backing vocals on Gene Clark's album No Other, and Don Everly's solo album Sunset Towers. In 1975, he was one of the Sex-O-Lettes on the self-titled debut album by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes. Bullens also had featured backing vocals on Rod Stewart's 1975 album Atlantic Crossing. Instead, he became known for touring with Elton John, as his backing vocalist on three major tours. Bullens featured on John's 1976 album Blue Moves and on his hit song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", with Kiki Dee (both released in 1976).

For the 1978 feature film Grease soundtrack, Bullens provided vocals on three songs ("It's Raining on Prom Night", "Mooning", and "Freddy, My Love"). The film's soundtrack album was nominated for the 1979 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

1978–1979: Desire Wire and Steal the Night Bullens's 1978 debut album, Desire Wire, was released on United Artists.

In the following year, Bullens released his second album, Steal the Night, on Casablanca in 1979. The album was co-produced with guitarist Mark Doyle. Bullens performed with a live band, consisting of keyboardist Trantham Whitley, bassist Howard Epstein, drummer Thom Mooney, and Doyle. After having creative differences with the record company, Bullens left the label and struggled to re-enter the music business.

2020s: Walkin' Through This World In August 2020, Bullens released his first album as Cidny, Walkin' Through This World, co-produced by Bullens and Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell). This new album is loosely themed around Cidny's gender transition, featuring the provocative first single "The Gender Line".

Personal life Bullens grew up in Massachusetts. In 1979, Bullens married Dan Crewe, brother of songwriter/producer Bob Crewe, and divorced in 2002. Their daughter Reid was born in 1982. In 1996, their younger daughter, Jessie, born in 1985, died at age 11, of complications from Hodgkin lymphoma.

As an artistic outlet for coming out as transgender in 2012, Bullens debuted a "one wo/man show" entitled Somewhere Between – Not an Ordinary Life in February 2016. Nashville Scene voted it to be the "Best One-Person Show of 2016". In terms of his previous life as Cindy, he considers his previous identity to be "a different person."

Discography

Solo career Desire Wire (United Artists Records, 1979) – LP and cassette. Steal the Night (Casablanca Records, 1979) – LP and cassette. Cindy Bullens (MCA Records, 1989) – LP, cassette and CD. Why Not? (Blue Lobster Records, 1994) – Cassette and CD. Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth (Artemis Records, 1999) – LP, cassette and CD. Neverland (Artemis Records, 2001) – LP, cassette and CD. Dream Number 29 (Blue Rose Records, 2005) – Cassette and CD. Howling Trains and Barking Dogs (M.C. Records, 2010) – LP and CD. Walkin' Through This World (Blue Lobster Records, 2020) - CD, digital

With the Refugees

Unbound (Wabuho Records, 2009) Three (Wabuho Records, 2012) How Far It Goes (Wabuho Records, 2019) California (Wabuho Records, 2023)