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| Birth Name(s) : Melissa Lou Etheridge |
Date of Birth: N/A |
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Full Melissa Etheridge Biography
Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961, in Leavenworth, Kansas) is an Academy Award-winning and two-time Grammy Award-winning American rock musician and singer.
Etheridge has released ten albums since signing her first major recording contract in 1987. Three of them have gone multi-platinum: Melissa Etheridge (1988), Yes I Am (1993) and Your Little Secret (1995). Two others went platinum and two more gold.
Etheridge is a Bruce Springsteen fan, and she has covered his songs "Thunder Road" and "Born to Run" during live shows. She is also a fan of the Dave Matthews Band and has expressed interest in collaborating with them.
In October 2004, Melissa Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she made a return to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, performed a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song Piece of My Heart. Etheridge was praised for her performance, which was considered one of the highlights of the show.
On November 15, 2005, Etheridge appeared on the Tonight Show to perform her song "I Run For Life," which references her own fight with breast cancer and her determination to overcome it, as well as encourages other breast cancer survivors and their families. After her performance, Jay Leno told her, "Thanks for being a fighter, kiddo."
Etheridge wrote the song "I Need To Wake Up" for the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The song was released only on the enhanced version of her greatest hits album, The Road Less Traveled.
On 7 July 2007 Etheridge performed at Giants Stadium at the American leg of Live Earth. Etheridge performed the songs "Imagine That" and "What Happens Tomorrow" from The Awakening, Etheridge's tenth album, released on September 25, 2007.
Etheridge is roughly the 125th top selling artist of all time with more than 27 million record sales.
Etheridge has won the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance twice in her career, for the songs "Ain't It Heavy" in 1992, and "Come to My Window" in 1994.
In 2006 at the 17th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, Etheridge received GLAAD's Stephen F. Kolzak Award, honoring openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professionals who have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights.
On February 25, 2007, Etheridge received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I Need to Wake Up", the theme song to the Al Gore-moderated, Academy Award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. The award was presented by Queen Latifah and John Travolta.
Etheridge is famous as a gay rights activist, having publicly come out as a lesbian in January 1993 at the Triangle Ball, a gay/lesbian celebration of President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. She is also a committed advocate for environmental issues and in 2006, she toured the US and Canada using biodiesel.
Etheridge had a long-term partnership with Julie Cypher, which made headlines. During this partnership, Cypher gave birth to two children, Bailey Jean, born February 1997, and Beckett, born November 1998, fathered by sperm donor David Crosby.
In 2000, Cypher began to reconsider her sexuality and on September 19, 2000, Etheridge and Cypher announced they were separating. In 2001, Etheridge documented her breakup with Cypher and other experiences in her memoir The Truth Is... My Life in Love and Music. In the book, Etheridge recounts that she was molested by her sister, Jennifer, over five years as a child, and mentions an alleged affair Cypher had with k.d. lang.
After splitting from Cypher, Etheridge went on to exchange vows in a 2003 commitment ceremony with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels.
In October 2005, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Etheridge appeared on Dateline NBC with Michaels to discuss her struggle with cancer. By the time of the interview, Etheridge's hair had grown back after being lost during chemotherapy. She said that her partner had been very supportive during her illness. Etheridge also admitted to using medicinal marijuana while she was receiving the chemotherapy. She said that the drug improved her mood and increased her appetite. Chemotherapy patients often have difficulty eating because of severe nausea.
In April 2006, Etheridge and Michaels announced that Michaels was pregnant with twins via an anonymous sperm donor. Michaels gave birth to a son, Miller Steven, and a daughter, Johnnie Rose, on October 17, 2006. |
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