Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge has one of those voices that arrives with a rasp and leaves with a bruise, and I've never quite gotten over how much conviction she packs into a single line. A Berklee-trained Kansan with multiple Grammys and even an Academy Award for Best Original Song, she's a craftsman as much as a force of nature. But what I admire most is the courage threaded through the catalog; she sang her truth openly and turned personal stakes into something universal. That fusion of toughness and tenderness is rare. To me she's the real article, a songwriter whose authenticity is the whole point.

Name (English)

Melissa Etheridge

Name (Japanese)

メリッサ・エセルリッジ

Reading

めりっさ・えせるりっじ

Born

May 29, 1961 (age 65)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Ox

Origin

Leavenworth, Kansas, United States

Occupation

singer / singer-songwriter / composer / guitarist / recording artist

High school

Leavenworth High School

University

Berklee College of Music

Awards & achievements

• 1990 Juno Award for International Entertainer of the Year
• 1992 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
• 1994 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
• 1999 GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award
• 2006 GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award
• 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song
• 2007 World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film
• star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Official sitehttps://melissaetheridge.com/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/melissa_etheridge/
• Xhttps://x.com/speak_true
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa%20Etheridge
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q270669

Tags

• Kansas
• singer
• singer-songwriter
• composer

Last updated

2026-06-17

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.