at that time. Those women were the ones that would come to the bars every Wednesday and Friday to hear me play. I knew them well and they taught me and showed me what politics was about—how things needed to change and how we could change them. Those were the days when I was hanging out with
k.d. lang, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell and we were all working on our careers. Then, once we get into the ‘90s, I was totally out and hanging with people like Urvashi Vaid and Alan Hergott, these leaders of our movement, giants who were making a difference. Margarethe Cammermeyer, people like them made me realize that I needed to be more out. You have to remember that there was sort of a
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” mentality in the recording in- dustry then. I was completely willing to talk about it at the time but no one was asking me about it. It was during my time helping on Bill Clinton’s campaign that I walked out and just said, “Hey, I’m a big lesbian!” (Laughs) One of my fondest memories of you, is your Grammy per- formance after your cancer battle—It was such a powerful moment. How did your perspective change on your career after that? The biggest thing was just surviving the cancer
in general and that health crisis. Coming out the other end and realizing that my health is the most important thing. If I don’t have that, I have absolutely nothing. It really set me on a journey of what is health, what does that even mean for me? Deciding to be on the Grammy’s was a very per-
sonal thing. I remember getting the call and at that time I was still very sick from the chemo and thought, “I don’t know if I can actually do it.” Then realizing that I really wanted to do the Janis Joplin tribute, “Piece Of My Heart.” If I said, “No,” I would have hated sitting at home, watching someone else sing it. So, I had to do it, bald or not, sick off chemotherapy, I didn’t care. I had to perform that song. From the moment I walked out on stage I was
melissa etheridge used individual photos submitted by her fans to create this mosaic for her This is M.E. album cover.
thinking how unusual that was. It was in Long Beach actually, The Executive Suite was the first place. Such a small world, we actually have had them in our maga- zine as advertisers. That’s so funny. Unfortunately they don’t have live
music there anymore. After The Suites I went to the Que Sera Sera and I played there for five years. That’s what supported me and every time a record ex- ecutive came to hear me it was, maybe, maybe… and then finally after five years, I got a record contract. But even then, you still gotta work that. It’s a constant kind of thing.
Even in ’94 when finally my fourth record hit big,
I didn’t really realize that I was “in it.” It wasn’t really until the turn of the century, where I began to think that I had really done something. You just keep working and still climbing and loving it—that’s the key—loving it. Was there a specific moment when you decided it was time to come out and be more involved in the LGBT movement? That was a gradual process. Playing the women’s
bars and being a part of the huge women’s com- munity in the ‘80s in Los Angeles and in Long Beach, which was politically charged and highly organized
blown away. Holding that moment and just taking it in. Then, as the hours, days and weeks unfolded, I came to understand that it was a big deal. Doing something for myself, something to come back and show everybody that I am strong. Letting everyone know that this is not taking me down, I am winning now. I have my health now and I know what I am go- ing to do with it. It was an amazing moment.
For much more of our interview with Melissa Etheridge go to
ragemonthly.com.
For information about Melissa Etheridge, to pre-order This Is M.E. and her upcoming concert tour schedule, go to
melissaetheridge.com.
SEPTEMBER 2014 | RAGE monthly 33
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