Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist.
Her debut album, Melissa Etheridge, was released in 1988 and became an underground success. The album peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and its lead single, "Bring Me Some Water", garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1989. In 1993, Etheridge won her first Grammy Award for her single "Ain't It Heavy" from her third album Never Enough (1992). Later that year, 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 in 1995. Yes I Am spent 138 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 15, and earned a RIAA certification of 6× Platinum, 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. Its tracks "Nowhere to Go" and "I Want to Come Over" both reached the Top 40 in the United States.
In October 2004, Etheridge 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". Their performance was widely acclaimed, and India.Arie later wrote "I Am Not My Hair" about Etheridge. Later that year, Etheridge released her first compilation album, Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled. The album was a great commercial success, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, and going Gold almost immediately. Etheridge has released 16 studio albums to date, the most recent being One Way Out (2021).Etheridge is known for music with a mixture of "confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals". She has been a gay and lesbian activist since her public coming out in January 1993. 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). She received the Berklee College of Music Honorary Doctor of Music Degree in 2006. The following year, she was honored with the ASCAP Founders Award. In September 2011, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
One Way Out
- 2021-09-17T00:00:00.000000Z
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