Melissa Etheridge life

Melissa Etheridge's gritty, rock blues style coupled with her emotional, raw songwriting, has earned her a wide following and cemented her as one of rock's most energetic performers and personalities.

Born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1961, and sharpening her musical skills at Boston's Berklee College of Music, Etheridge moved to Los Angeles in the mid 80s, where she was signed by Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Her 1988 self-titled debut album hit the platinum mark and entered the Top 30, while it's follow-up, 1989's Brave and Crazy likewise went platinum. In 1990, Etheridge was given a Juno award, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, for International Entertainer of the Year. Her 1992 album Never Enough bore "Ain't It Heavy," the track which earned the singer a Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance. 1993's Yes I Am went five-times platinum and included three top ten hits -- "I'm The Only One," "Come To My Window," and "If I Wanted To." The album, which earned two Grammy nominations, achieved one award (for "Come To My Window" in the Best Female Rock Performance category). In 1995, she released "Your Little Secret", which contained the hit "I Want To Come Over;" appearing on the album was her touring band, which included guitarist John Shanks, bassist Mark Browne and John Mellencamp's drummer, Kenny Aronoff.

Many of her lyrics are self-examining. Etheridge says much of her songwriting comes from not having the ability to express herself emotionally growing up in a Midwestern city. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1995, she explained: "I grew up in the Midwest, where they only played Bob Seger and Springsteen and Mellencamp, that was it. That was how I related to my world. When I'd feel like I wanted to get out of the town, I'd play "Born to Run." So when I started to sing it myself and say I want to get out of here, that was the music that I made."

Highlights in her career include performing "Piece Of My Heart" during Janis Joplin's posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, performing "Thunder Road" with Bruce Springsteen during an MTV Unplugged special, and performing at the opening of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

In addition to her musical efforts, she has been actively involved politics, voicing her opinion on a variety of issues. She has spoken up for human rights, urged people to vote, helped raise money for AIDS patients, and been an active proponent of same-sex marriages. The singer and her partner, filmmaker Julie Cypher, received the National Family Civil Rights award from the Human Rights Campaign for the couple's positive role actions in the gay and lesbian community.

Etheridge has taken time off from performing to give birth to a second child while waiting for a chance to star in the biographical film on Janis Joplin "Piece of My Heart." Although the script was written by partner Cypher, it appears that the project is going ahead without Etheridge.