Melissa Etheridge on Authenticity, Resilience

“All we are is our stories,” Melissa Etheridge told crisis-communication strategist Molly McPherson, APR, during an Oct. 16 General Session at PRSA's ICON 2024 in Anaheim, Calif. “Make sure it’s something you want to live with for the rest of your life.”

Etheridge, a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, urged the audience to be honest and authentic as she referenced passages from her 2023 memoir, “Talking to My Angels.”

She grew up in Leavenworth, Kan., where she dreamed of becoming a rock star. She moved to Los Angeles and began playing her songs in lesbian bars. In 1993, she came out publicly while performing onstage during President Bill Clinton’s inaugural celebration. Later that year, she released her album “Yes I Am.”

“Keep being who you are,” she said during her ICON talk. “The most powerful thing our community did was to come out. It’s about changing hearts and minds.”

As people, “We’re never going to agree on everything,” Etheridge said. But having contrasts and differences is “what moves us forward.”

Etheridge is celebrating 20 years of being cancer-free. After receiving a breast cancer diagnosis, she underwent a spiritual awakening about her life and purpose, she said. She has often spoken publicly about her cancer journey and her son’s death from an opioid overdose in 2020. 

Etheridge said she used to suffer pain worrying about what other people thought of her. She realized she needed to believe in herself.

“It’s about truth; it’s about what moves you,” Etheridge said, noting that she only speaks publicly about things that have touched her personally. “You hope to inspire — and maybe change hearts and minds.” 

At the end of her concerts, she tells the audience: “Be strong. Speak true.”