- Title: GERMANY: AMERICAN ROCK MUSICIAN MELISSA ETHERIDGE PERFORMS IN FRANKFURT
- Date: 17th February 2002
- Summary: VARIOUS OF ETHERIDGE PERFORMING ON STAGE FANS CLAPPING AT CONCERT
- Embargoed: 4th March 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Entertainment,General
- Reuters ID: LVA7AGM8MC2AK8LV2AXY2OH7KVMS
- Story Text: Melissa Etheridge, one of America's greatest rock musician's has held her ground in the male-dominated industry for over a decade. With seven albums behind her that have sold over twenty-five million copies worldwide, eleven Grammy nominations and two awards, she's also a highly visible spokesperson for the gay and lesbian community and has, since her childhood used song writing as a form of therapy. Her latest album 'Skin' deals with the intimate details of a failed relationship, the same subject matter that dominates her best selling autobiography 'The Truth is.', currently number nine on the New York Times bestsellers list.
Melissa Etheridge may only be forty years old, but she is arguably one of the grand dames of rock music; in a career that has spanned more than ten years she has used her skills as a songwriter and the seemingly endless suffering in her personal life to sell more than twenty-five million albums.
Her latest album 'Skin' chronicles the break up of her long relationship with her partner Julie, the mother of her two children.
"This album was collected in a very short amount of time about one emotional experience; it will always be set apart from any other piece of work because it is so pointed, it is almost a concept from beginning to middle to end. I hope I never have to go through an emotional experience like that again, that would inspire me to write such material, I hope it is a unique piece", she said.
In the album, Etheridge uses the songs to lead the listener through the various stages of the break-up. "Yes, the whole album is a journey, the whole album starts addressing the betrayal, and the situation and the hurt and the breakup and then coming to grips with it and sort of settling into a grief, and then there is a looking out, and a strengthening and a healing in it, so the first part is definitely a talking to and about this relationship", she said.
No stranger to controversy, Etheridge has also just published the first part of her autobiography which she hopes will settle the questions and rumours that have dogged her in the first half of her life. "The things that I had been carrying around, the things that I had been protecting for so long and had been dragging along with me, by writing this book I wrote a letter to myself saying, you no longer have to carry this anymore, put it all out there, place it all out there, put it aside and go on. People then, anyone it has to deal with, anyone who I'm speaking about who I experienced in my life, now it's theirs and they can deal with it however they choose, good or bad, but I'm clean and clear of it and it's amazing"
she said.
Despite a rocky personal life, it appears, artistically, things have never been better for Etheridge, not only is her book number nine on the New York Times bestseller list, but she was also nominated for this year's Grammys. "This is my eleventh nomination, I've been nominated eleven times for Grammys and I would not be truthful if I said that you know, I jumped up and down like I did the first time; it will never be like it was the first time, the first time was completely unexpected, completely. It was the last thing in my mind, it was a gift at the time to be able to perform on the Grammys, it was amazing. Since then I have won two Grammys which were fabulous and I still treasure them and it is an honour. This year it was more of a feeling of wow, I'm still sort of hanging in there, I'm still part of that rock and roll community and I appreciate that greatly" she said.
Despite not winning a Grammy at this week's award ceremony Etheridge's recent success proves she is certainly doing more than just "hanging in there".
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