Out rocker Melissa Etheridge plays Madison Square Garden July 9 &
10. She is a vocal supporter of Sen. Barack Obama for president.
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By Dustin Fitzharris
Friday, June 20, 2008
I believe a woman can work hard and succeed / And we could be content / To believe that she could be in charge / Of the free / And be the president
Melissa Etheridge wrote those lyrics for the song “What Happens Tomorrow,” which is on her latest album, “Awakening.” Obviously, she must be disappointed that Hillary Clinton did not clinch the Democratic nomination, right?
“No!” Etheridge tells The Blade from North Carolina, where she’s preparing for a show. “I wrote the song in response to people saying, ‘We’re not ready for a woman president.’ That just made me so mad, but I hadn’t really looked into who I was going to support.”
Early in the race, Etheridge supported U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Today, she’s an avid Obama backer.
“The more I looked into the Clintons, the more I felt the Clintons were tied to these multi-national corporations that are just driving our government into the ground,” Etheridge said. “I don’t know if Barack Obama is free of that, but I know he has less ties than Clinton does.”
Last summer, Etheridge made headlines during a Democratic debate on the Logo network when she confronted Clinton on her husband’s administration.
Etheridge, who came out publicly as a lesbian at Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, said to Hillary: “We were very, very hopeful [when Bill Clinton was elected] and in the years that followed, our hearts were broken. We were thrown under the bus. We were pushed aside.”
Clinton responded, “Well, you know, obviously, Melissa, I don't see it quite the way that you describe, but I respect your feeling about it.”
Today, Etheridge is lending her support for Obama. She recalled that after the Logo debate, Obama was the only candidate that sought her out.
“He’s the only one who came backstage. He found me, shook my hand and he was the first one to respond when the community reached out and said we wanted to do a forum—he was the first one,” Etheridge said. “He’s not afraid of our issues.”
There’s no doubt Etheridge will tackle issues of her own when her “Revival Tour” arrive July 9 and 10 to Madison Square Garden. Etheridge said that anyone who’s seen her live knows to expect “good fun and good music,” but this time around her show will be different.
“This tour has a little more spirit in it,” Etheridge said. “I arranged the set a little different. It’s not just me coming out and singing my songs; I actually tell my life story.”
Etheridge’s life began on May 29, 1961, in Leavenworth, Kan. At 21, she packed her bags and headed to Los Angeles to break into the music business. In 1988, after gaining attention while playing at lesbian bars, she released her self-titled, multi-platinum album.
Twenty years later, she has such a wealth of material that her concerts last three hours. What’s her secret to being able to perform that long night after night?
“I’m out of my mind,” Etheridge said with a tired chuckle. She jokes that other performers who give condensed shows are “just wusses!”
“I’m always like, ‘I need to cut my show down,’ but I have a lot to say,” Etheridge said. “There’s a list of songs that I have to do every night and then I like to go deep in the catalogue and pull out favorite songs of people who listen to my whole albums and take that whole experience in.”
Etheridge said she is especially looking forward to performing in New York City again.
“My wife lived there for seven years. She just drags me all over the city,” Etheridge said.
“I never knew the city really until I met her. You can kind of just bop on the top of city and not really get into New York City.”
But don’t expect Etheridge to pack up and leave her spacious home on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
“I can get a little claustrophobia in New York, but I love the people,” Etheridge said.
In 2003, Etheridge and actress Tammy Lynn Michaels had a commitment ceremony. Three years earlier, Etheridge suffered a very public breakup with partner Julie Cypher. From that relationship, Etheridge has two children, Bailey Jean and Beckett. The couple found themselves in a media frenzy when they revealed that both children were fathered by sperm donor, singer David Crosby. Cypher and Etheridge separated shortly thereafter, as Etheridge said, Cypher began to question her sexuality.
Etheridge just laughs when asked what she’s learned over the years about relationships.
“Not enough! There’s always something to learn about relationships,” Etheridge said. “Having a relationship is about discovering yourself. The more you can be true to yourself and the truth in your relationship, the stronger that relationship will be.”
Now that gay marriage is legal in California where Etheridge and Michaels reside with their twins, son Miller Steven and daughter Johnnie Rose, who will turn two this fall, will the couple marry?
“Yes,” Etheridge said. “We’ve always considered ourselves married, but we’ll get that little piece of paper, as we say, and probably have a little wingding. We went out so large on the wedding that we don’t need to do anything big.”
Although gay marriage has become the forefront issue in the LGBT community, it does have its critics who believe there are more important issues to tackle. Etheridge disagrees.
“Every time we as community, a sub community in this beautiful society we live in, stand up and say, ‘Hey, you’re not treating us fairly,’ they get to see us and realize we haven’t gone away and that we are part of this great fabric of humanity,” Etheridge said. “So gay marriage is not the single issue of our community at all, but what it does is allow us to become visible. It allows our institutions and our judges to stand up and go, ‘This is not fair.’ When you get someone standing up for you, then it’s easier to stand up for yourself.”
She compares the issue of gay marriage to the racism issues that have surfaced over Barack Obama. She said both are bringing out people’s prejudices.
“It’s like, ‘We got to talk about this now. You can’t hide anymore,’” Etheridge said. “It’s like we’re all healing and having a big therapy session.”
And she does believe Obama will stand behind the LGBT community when it comes to gay marriage.
“I feel everyone around him is very pro-gay marriage,” Etheridge said. “I think somewhere along the line he decided, You know what, I’m just going to stand over here and say for personal reasons I can’t support it. But I think he’ll be the first one to say, ‘but by the will of the people, here is gay marriage.’ I could be completely wrong, but it’s my gut thought.”
Though Etheridge is optimistic about the future, she pauses to reflect on the past.
Her mood turns somber when her battle with breast cancer is brought up. After a long pause of eerie silence, she says “The rewards and the wonderful things that happened to me as a result of cancer really outweigh the bad stuff.”
Etheridge said one of those rewards was coming to a stop and taking a hiatus from work for 10 weeks while she underwent chemotherapy.
“Chemotherapy is the most barbaric thing we do to human beings,” Etheridge said, adding that the process quieted her mind gave her a whole other way of looking at life. Like the title of her album suggests, she was awakened.
Four years later, Etheridge is cancer free. But surviving cancer is not what Etheridge said she is the most proud of. Her children are.
“I’ve learned about life from them,” Etheridge said. “I’ve learned that life is more than a rock ’n’ roll song and a stage. My four children are it. They are what it’s all about.”
Melissa Etheridge performs 8 p.m., July 9 & 10 at Madison Square Garden, $39.50–$104.50, melissaetheridge.com.
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