Once again it is our favorite day of the week here on GirlfriendsMeet. I’m sure you know what it is and in case you don’t it’s Woman Crush Wednesday!
This week we are doing a little throwback to the 80’s and 90’s with the beloved Melissa Etheridge. Etheridge is a musician and some of her most popular songs are “Come to my Window” and “Bring Me Some Water.” Apparently she’s not a fan of moving, just kidding!
Melissa Etheridge was born in Kansas and studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She later on dropped out of Berklee and ran away to pursue her dream in Los Angeles (we all have to do it!) The first record company she sent her songs to was a lesbian one called Olivia Records, who rejected her, this was prior to her coming out. She did however get a publishing deal with Island Records who later rejected a song by her for being “too polished” this resulted in her stripping down and writing her famous, Grammy-winning song “Bring Me Some Water.”
So what makes her crush-worthy?
Etheridge is crush worthy for her involvement in politics and the LGBT community. She came out as a lesbian at the Triangle Ball in 1993. According to Wikipedia (don’t laugh at my source) the Triangle Ball is a “gay celebration of President Clinton’s first inauguration.”
Just last December Etheridge released a song about gay love when news of how Russia’s LGBT community was being treated. The song was part of a movement called Uprising of Love based purely on the idea of social media circulating ideas and the message they wanted to convey. Started by a Russian group called Russia Freedom Fund which is working to “combat discrimination and violence there {in Russia} based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They also hold an impressive record of big name supporters such as Cyndi Lauper and Madonna.
Earlier this year Etheridge also headlined for World Pride Toronto where she played the song “Uprising of Love.” She was, of course, a perfect choice because of her active and never-ending involvement on the ideals of quality, acceptance and change. Making her once again, crush worthy! Not to mention that she’s absolutely stunning and only seems to grow more beautiful with age.
Etheridge has had a busy year rallying and believe it or not little by little changes are being made. Last year when California’s Proposition 8 got demolished (it banned gay marriage) she immediately got engaged to her best friend, Linda Wallem (who created the show Nurse Jackie and Etheridge says is her one true love). Just this year they got married with Wallem in a beautiful white dress and Etheridge in a suit accented by a purple tie (see pics of the wedding on her instagram @metheridge)
Etheridge is a power house with a never ending drive to continue fighting for equality. If you don’t know much about her you’ll like her music if you’re into the 90s woman revolt pop, folk rock, Janis Joplin sound (it’s awesome!). She paved the way for woman’s 90’s music being one of the most popular artists of the time.
