GREAT AWAKENING
Melissa Etheridge talks about her gay marriage and four children, beating breast cancer, winning an Oscar, and her first concert of 2008 here March 7. “There’s going to be some Melissa favorites - Bring Me Some Water
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Albums of the Year, coming in at No. 20.
The Awakening has been described as a “colorful song cycle of her life story.” In it, Etheridge openly shares her journey to becoming a rock star, life as a human rights activist, and more recently a parent and cancer survivor.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, Etheridge gave one of the most memorable performances in Grammy history when she appeared at the 2005 awards ceremony, bald from chemotherapy, and sang Piece Of My Heart in a tribute to rocker Janis Joplin.
“I’m doing great,“says Etheridge on her personal battle with cancer. “I’m all clear for three years now, which is awesome. I’m actually healthier than I was then because I’m much more balanced in my diet, in my emotional life and spiritually. I’m just all much more balanced and that’s what I believe health is. I’m actually glad I had that experience so I could reach the place that I’m at now.
“Cancer survivors, they know that it’s not about their hair, that it’s about their health. There are more of us than they know. We’re almost half the population in the U.S.”
In addition to her music (she has two Grammy awards), Etheridge is also known for her voice on gay, environmental and human rights issues.
“Winning the Academy Award last year was such an incredible experience because the movie meant so much,” she says.“It was so much bigger than all of us put together who worked on it and I was just so honored to be involved in that.
“(The message of the film) It’s the way that I live and the way I speak to people. And then to win an award for that was incredible.”
In an effort to save the planet, all of Etheridge’s tour buses run on biodiesel fuel. She personally drives a Ford (diesel) Excursion and uses biodiesel in it. And she recycles.
“We also have a hybrid and a couple of diesels,” she says. “And I try to get off the grid as much as I can.
“Also, when we go shopping we take our own bags. That’s a huge thing. If people were aware of how many plastic bags go into landfills every day, it would freak you out. So, just doing that is a huge thing. Bringing your bags and putting the clothes that you buy, the books that you buy and the groceries that you buy in it.”
With the little free time she has, Etheridge enjoys reading, yoga, taking walks and staying active. She’s currently reading The Divine Matrix, which she says is “very good.”
But without a doubt, what she enjoys the most are the two things that consume most of her time: working and being with her family.
“The twins, they’re unbelievable,” says Etheridge, who has a domestic partnership with Michaels that gives her some rights, including parental rights, to the babies.“They’re walking and running and starting to talk. They have their own little ideas and opinions about things. It’s so awesome.
“One thing I love about being a mom is the experience of it being yours. The spirit that is in these children. I have four little spirits and I’m watching them grow up and their impression of what the world is, and it’s my job to slowly introduce them to the world in a kind and respectful way.”
Tickets to the Melissa Etheridge March 7 concert are $100, $75, $55 and $35, and are available at the Blaisdell box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets, including Times Supermarket locations. You can also purchase them online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 877-750-4400. Show starts at 8 p.m.
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