22 on the Billboard 200[5] and its lead single, "Bring Me Some Water", garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1989.

Its tracks "I'm the Only One", "If I Wanted To", and "Come to My Window" all reached the Top 40 in the United States, while the latter earned Etheridge her second Grammy Award.

[18] She started to play in local country music groups in her teenage years and graduated from high school in 1979.

After three semesters, Etheridge decided to drop out of Berklee and move to Los Angeles to attempt a career in music.

[21] This, in addition to her gigs in lesbian bars around Los Angeles, led to her discovery by Island Records chief Chris Blackwell.

[22] After an unreleased first effort that was rejected by Island Records as being too polished and glossy, she completed her stripped-down, self-titled debut in just four days.

Her eponymous debut album Melissa Etheridge (1988), was an underground hit, and the single "Bring Me Some Water" performed well on radio and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

While on the road promoting the album, she paused in Memphis, Tennessee, to be interviewed for the syndicated radio program Pulsebeat—Voice of the Heartland, explaining the intensity of her music by saying: "People think I'm really sad—or really angry.

21, but gave Etheridge her first Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Ain't It Heavy".

[27] In 1992, Etheridge established a performing arts scholarship at Leavenworth High School in honor of her recently deceased father.

She also garnered two additional nominations in the Best Rock Song category for "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window", losing to Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia".

During the televised occasion, she highlighted the appearance with a performance of "I'm the Only One" and a duet with Sammy Hagar covering The Rolling Stones' song, "Honky Tonk Women.

[35] Recorded after her breakup with partner Julie Cypher, Skin was described as "[a] harrowing, clearly autobiographical dissection of a decaying relationship."

At the 2005 Grammy Awards (the same ceremony for which "Breathe" was nominated), she made a return to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, performed a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song "Piece of My Heart".

[9] On September 10, 2005, Etheridge participated in ReAct Now: Music & Relief, a telethon in support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

ReAct Now, part of an ongoing effort by MTV, VH1, CMT, seeks to raise funds for the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and America's Second Harvest.

[39][40] In November 2005, Etheridge appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to perform her song "I Run for Life".

[41] Etheridge wrote "I Need to Wake Up" for the film documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2006.

[44] In August 2006, Etheridge also produced and sang the vocal tracks on the Brother Bear 2 soundtrack, including collaborations with Josh Kelley.

[48] Etheridge performed the role of St. Jimmy in Green Day's hit Broadway musical, American Idiot from February 1–6, 2011.

[49][50] Etheridge performed her new song "Uprising of Love" in the 2013–2014 New Year's Eve celebration in New York City's Times Square along with the rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" before the ball drop.

[51][52] In 2014, she was one of the performers at the opening ceremonies of WorldPride in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, alongside Tom Robinson, Deborah Cox and Steve Grand.

[59] In March 2022, Etheridge was announced as a strategic advisor for the Inpink platform by Gritty In Pink alongside Arlan Hamilton and Live Nation.

[61] Etheridge came out publicly as a lesbian in January 1993 at the Triangle Ball, a homosexual-themed celebration of President Bill Clinton's first inauguration.

[69] On October 17, 2006, Michaels gave birth to fraternal twins, Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven, who were conceived via an anonymous sperm donor.

[74] In October 2008, five months after the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, Etheridge announced that she and Michaels were planning to marry but were currently "trying to find the right time... to go down and do it".

[75] In November 2008, in response to the passing of California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, Etheridge announced that she would not pay her state taxes as an act of civil disobedience.

[78] Etheridge supported Barack Obama's decision to have Pastor Rick Warren speak at his 2009 Presidential inauguration, believing that he can sponsor dialogue to bridge the gap between gay and straight Christians.

She stated in her column at The Huffington Post that "Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket.

[87][88] On May 13, 2020, Etheridge announced on her Twitter that Beckett, her son with Cypher, had died of causes related to opioid addiction at the age of 21.