Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge stormed onto the American rock scene in 1988 with the release of her critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, which led to an appearance on the 1989 Grammy Awards show. Her popularity grew around memorable originals such as "Bring Me Some Water," "No Souvenirs" and "Ain't It Heavy," for which she won a Grammy in 1992. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am (1993), which featured the massive hits "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," the latter earning her a second Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance. In 1995 she released Your Little Secret, distinguished by the hit single "I Want to Come Over," and in 1996 she received the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards.

Known for her confessional lyrics and raspy, smoky vocals, Etheridge has remained one of America's favorite female singers for more than two decades. In February 2007 she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I Need to Wake Up," written for the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth. As a performer and songwriter, Etheridge has shown herself to be an artist who has never allowed "inconvenient truths" to keep her down. Earlier in her career she acknowledged her sexual orientation when it was considered less than prudent to do so. In October 2004 she was diagnosed with breast cancer; she won that battle and, despite losing her hair from chemotherapy, appeared on the 2005 Grammy telecast to sing "Piece of My Heart" in tribute to Janis Joplin.

On October 7, 2016 Etheridge released Memphis Rock & Soul, recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis; the album received strong reviews from Entertainment Weekly, Parade, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter and others. She followed that with The Medicine Show in April 2019, reuniting with producer John Shanks on her 15th studio recording.

In June 2020 Etheridge launched The Etheridge Foundation to support scientific research into effective new treatments for opioid use disorder, working toward advancing treatment approaches that address root causes of opioid abuse.

In 2021 Melissa released One Way Out, a 9-track album of songs she wrote in the late '80s and early '90s that had not been released until then.

In October 2022 she returned to the theatre with her one-woman show, My Window — A Journey Through Life. The critically acclaimed, sold-out run premiered at New World Stages on October 13 and opened at Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway in September 2023.

In 2024 Melissa released Melissa Etheridge: I'm Not Broken, a two-part docuseries (Paramount+) and accompanying live album. Recorded live within the grounds of the Topeka Correctional Facility, the album and docuseries follow her journey penning and performing an original song inspired by her correspondence with residents of the TCF and feature raw, rousing versions of specially curated fan favorites and original songs.