Melissa Etheridge was born on May 29, 1961 in Leavenworth, Kansas. Her musical interests developed early, when she picked up a guitar for the first time at the age of eight and soon after was writing her own songs. Her teen years were spent playing with local bands and developing the sound that would eventually lead to her fame. Following her graduation from high school she went on to attend Boston's Berklee College of Music, but only stayed at the school for a year before moving to LA and pursuing a career in music.

Not long after her move, Bill Leopold signed on as her manager and she began to play at regular gigs. She started playing five nights a week at the Executive Suite in Long Beach, California, where she was the center of her first bidding war. A&M, Capitol, EMI, Warner Bros., and Island Records all competed for her contract, but it was Island Records that won over the others. Her first recording contract resulted in material for the now-forgotten soundtrack to Weeds, a prison movie with Nick Nolte about a lifer in prison who writes a hit play. Early on in Etheridge's career she struggled a great deal with the decision of whether or not to let the world know about her homosexuality, which she eventually revealed with the album Yes I Am, which rocketed her to superstardom. She is currently married to Tammy Lynn Michaels.

Etheridge's accomplishments to date include a string of chart albums, including the number one and number six albums Skin (2001) and Yes I Am (1993.) Her chart songs are too many to miss, but the key songs are the Billboard number one singles "I'm the Only One" and "I Want to Come Over." She has also won two Grammy Awards for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the song "Ain't It Heavy" in 1992, and "Come to My Window" in 1994.