Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge is a titan of American folk-rock, whose distinctive voice and personal lyrics have earned her international acclaim. Across a three-decade career, she has racked up five platinum certified albums, 11 Billboard Hot 100 charting singles, and a host of honours and recognitions including an Academy Award and two Grammy Awards. Etheridge was first discovered whilst performing in bars in Southern California, and gained early work writing songs for movie soundtracks.

In 1988, Etheridge released her self-titled debut album which spawned the popular single Bring Me Some Water, and followed this with albums Brave and Crazy and Never Enough. She toured widely, building up a wide and loyal fanbase, and in 1993 released her fourth album, Yes I Am, which marked her mainstream breakthrough and spent 138 weeks inside the Billboard 200. Hits from the album included Come to My Window and I’m the Only One, which reached No. 1 in Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart.

Besides her music, Etheridge is a vocal activist for LGBT rights and environmental issues, and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for her track I Need to Wake Up on the climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth. As well as earning two Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance on Ain’t It Heavy and Come to My Window, she has received a further 13 nominations, been named International Entertainer of the Year at the Juno Awards and Pop Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP. She has been recognised with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the GLAAD Media Awards, and has been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.