Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge is a rock singer, songwriter and guitarist whose songs about love, loss and resilience connect her records, live shows and advocacy.
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Latest
Melissa’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Hometown
- Leavenworth, Kansas
- Work
- Singer, songwriter and guitarist
- Recording debut
- Melissa Etheridge, 1988
- Breakthrough
- Yes I Am, 1993, featuring “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One”
- Awards
- Two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award
- Latest studio album
- Rise, released March 27, 2026
Mini bio
How it started.
Melissa grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas. She picked up a guitar at eight and performed with local bands as a teenager. Years of playing led to an Island Records deal in 1986 and her self-titled debut in 1988.
Songs fans carried with them.
Her 1993 album Yes I Am brought “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One” to a wider audience. She won Grammys for “Ain’t It Heavy” in 1993 and “Come to My Window” in 1995. Your Little Secret followed in 1995 with “I Want to Come Over.”
Living openly.
Melissa came out publicly in January 1993 and became a visible voice for LGBTQ+ people in rock. After breast cancer treatment, she returned to the Grammy stage in 2005 to perform a Janis Joplin tribute. In 2007, “I Need to Wake Up,” written for An Inconvenient Truth, won the Oscar for original song.
Music beyond the record.
She founded the Etheridge Foundation in 2020 to support research into treatments for opioid use disorder. Her story also reached Broadway in My Window and the page in Talking to My Angels. In 2024, I’m Not Broken paired a live album with a two-part documentary about her connection with women at Topeka Correctional Facility.
Where she is now.
Rise brings her together with producer Shooter Jennings and duet partner Chris Stapleton. Alongside new songs, she keeps returning to the stage, touring with Wynonna Judd in 2026 and announcing the Rise Again tour for 2027.
Creditschronological, newest first
Music
- 2026RiseSinger, songwriter and co-producer with Shooter Jennings
- 2026The Other Side of BlueCo-writer and duet partner with Chris Stapleton
- 2024I’m Not Broken (Live from Topeka Correctional Facility)Live performer
- 2006I Need to Wake Up, from An Inconvenient TruthSongwriter and performer
- 1993Yes I AmSinger and songwriter
Stage, screen and books
- 2024Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not BrokenFeatured musician in the two-part Paramount+ documentary
- 2023Melissa Etheridge: My WindowBroadway solo performer
- 2023Talking to My AngelsAuthor
Awards
Quotes
I like to be melodic and to move people with the guitar.Melissa Etheridge, Guitar World
In an April 2026 interview about Rise, she explained what she values in her guitar playing.
Trivia
- She began guitar lessons with Leavenworth teacher Don Raymond in 1972.
- She keeps guitars in different rooms so she can pick one up when a song arrives.
- One Way Out revisits songs she wrote in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
- “More Love” was written for her daughter Bailey’s wedding.
- She edited the “Don’t You Want a Woman” video herself, with Linda Wallem Etheridge directing.
Find Melissa
Follow her for new songs, tour dates and notes from the road.
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