Melissa Etheridge

This article is about the performer. For her eponymous album, see Melissa Etheridge (album).

Melissa Etheridge
Etheridge in 2011
Born
Melissa Lou Etheridge

(1961-05-29) May 29, 1961 (age 63)
Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active1985–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2014)​
Partners
Children4
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Labels
Websitemelissaetheridge.com
Signature

Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200[5] and its lead single, "Bring Me Some Water", garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1989.[6] Her second album, Brave and Crazy, appeared that same year and earned Etheridge two more Grammy nominations. In 1992, Etheridge released her third album, Never Enough, and its lead single, "Ain't It Heavy", won Etheridge her first Grammy Award.[6]

In 1993, she released what would become her mainstream breakthrough album: Yes I Am. Its tracks "I'm the Only One", "If I Wanted To", and "Come to My Window" all reached the Top 40 in the United States, while the latter earned Etheridge her second Grammy Award.[6] Yes I Am spent 138 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 15,[5] and earned a RIAA certification of 6× Platinum,[7] her largest selling album to date. Her fifth album, Your Little Secret, was released in 1995 and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, her highest-charting album to date.[5] Its tracks "Nowhere to Go" and "I Want to Come Over" both reached the Top 40 in the United States.

Etheridge achieved further success with her albums Breakdown (1999), Skin (2001), and Lucky (2004). In October 2004, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she made a return to the stage, performing a tribute to Janis Joplin with Joss Stone. Stone began the performance with "Cry Baby" and Etheridge, bald from chemotherapy, joined her to perform the song "Piece of My Heart".[8] Their performance was widely acclaimed, and India.Arie later wrote "I Am Not My Hair" about Etheridge.[9] Later that year, Etheridge released her first compilation album, Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled. A great commercial success, it peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, and went Gold almost immediately.[7] Etheridge has released 16 studio albums to date, the most recent being One Way Out (2021).[10][11]

Etheridge is known for music with a mixture of "confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals".[3] She has been a gay and lesbian rights activist since her public coming out in January 1993.[12] Among her various accolades, Etheridge has received two Grammy Awards (from 15 nominations), and an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I Need to Wake Up" from the film An Inconvenient Truth (2006).[13] She received the Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctor of Music Degree in 2006.[14] The following year, she was honored with the ASCAP Founders Award.[15] In September 2011, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[16]

  1. ^ Ross, Mike. "Melissa Etheridge has fun with Edmonton fans at Jubilee Auditorium". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  2. ^ Gentile, John (January 27, 2014). "Melissa Etheridge Seeks to Unite on 'Uprising of Love' – Song Premiere". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Greg Prato. "Melissa Etheridge". Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  4. ^ Carpenter, Susan (October 17, 2005). "Alive and well and at peace with herself". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Melissa Etheridge – Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c "Melissa Etheridge". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "American certifications – Melissa Etheridge". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on October 4, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  8. ^ "Melissa Etheridge on Life After Breast Cancer – Shape Magazine". Shape.com. April 22, 2009. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  9. ^ Gail Mitchell (October 6, 2006). "India.Arie's 'Hair' Regrows With Pink". Billboard.com.
  10. ^ Leiber, Sarah Jae (May 25, 2021). "Melissa Etheridge Releases New Single 'One Way Out'". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  11. ^ Mike O'Cull (September 17, 2021). "Review: Melissa Etheridge One Way Out". Rock & Blues Muse. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  12. ^ Luca Prono (2008). Melissa Etheridge. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313335990. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  13. ^ "Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database – Melissa Etheridge". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  14. ^ "BERKLEE | Commencement 2006". Berklee.edu. May 13, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  15. ^ "ASCAP Founders Award". March 2, 2014. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  16. ^ "Melissa Etheridge Lands Hollywood Walk of Fame Star". Billboard. Retrieved July 27, 2014.