Melissa Etheridge Tickets

Short Biography
TOURING AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND IN JULY 2012

The Frontier Touring Company is proud to announce that Oscar and Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter MELISSA ETHERIDGE is returning to New Zealand and Australia for a very special July 2012 live tour.

Fans will experience an intimate evening of over two hours of powerful performances from Melissa's extensive catalogue of hits when she returns for her first Australian appearances since 1996. The tour will kick off in New Zealand in July 2012 and will continue on to Australia taking in QLD, NSW, VIC, SA and WA.

On September 27, 2011 the Grammy Award-winning singer officially reached global star status after ...

Short Biography
TOURING AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND IN JULY 2012

The Frontier Touring Company is proud to announce that Oscar and Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter MELISSA ETHERIDGE is returning to New Zealand and Australia for a very special July 2012 live tour.

Fans will experience an intimate evening of over two hours of powerful performances from Melissa's extensive catalogue of hits when she returns for her first Australian appearances since 1996. The tour will kick off in New Zealand in July 2012 and will continue on to Australia taking in QLD, NSW, VIC, SA and WA.

On September 27, 2011 the Grammy Award-winning singer officially reached global star status after she received the honour of having her own star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This comes on top of her remarkable 2007 Academy Award for her song "I Need To Wake Up," written for the Al Gore documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

The singer's honest and confessional song writing style paired with her bluesy rock-infused vocals has seen her rise to the top of the musical spectrum since the her 1988 debut album Melissa Etheridge, which is certified triple platinum in Australia and double platinum in New Zealand.

Fan favourites such as ‘Bring Me Some Water', ‘No Souvenirs' and ‘Ain't It Heavy', for which she won her first Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal, are amongst many of the songs that make Etheridge one of rock music's most exciting performers.

Etheridge's 1993 album Yes I Am contained the massive hits ‘I'm the Only One' and ‘Come to My Window', a scorching song of desire that delivered her second Best Female Rock Grammy. Since then, Melissa has continued to tour constantly and has released a total of ten studio albums, and has recently launched the daily Melissa Etheridge Radio Show for broadcast throughout the world.

"As one of the most prominent women in rock, Melissa Etheridge has blazed a striking path through the genre with her soulful, gritty voice and formidable guitar playing... This compilation presents highlights from Etheridge's remarkable career" - CD Universe

"What can be said about Melissa Etheridge that hasn't already been said? The singer/songwriter/guitarist has done it all. Nominated for fifteen Grammy's, winning two, one Academy Award, selling millions of albums and is even a breast cancer survivor." - rockshowcritique.com

"Melissa Etheridge is to female rock vocalists, what Robert Plant is to male rock vocalists. She's got that full growling throaty sound, plus tremendous guitar skills and writes songs that are truly inspirational." - sceneinthedark.com

Fans can rejoice at the news that the one and only Melissa Etheridge is returning to our shores for a series of electric and inspirational shows. Don't miss a chance to see the legendary performer live in your city.

MELISSA ETHERIDGE
JULY 2012

General public on sale from 9am local time, Fri 18 Nov

Sun 15 Jul The Plenary, Melbourne, VIC All Ages

In-depth Biography
Melissa Etheridge became one of the most popular recording artists of the '90s due to her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, Janis Joplin/Rod Stewart-esque vocals. But the road to stardom was not all smooth sailing for Etheridge as she debated behind the scenes whether or not to disclose to the public that she was gay early on in her career. Born May 29, 1961, in Leavenworth, KS, Etheridge first picked up the guitar at the age of eight and began penning her own songs shortly thereafter. Playing in local bands throughout her teens, Etheridge then attended the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. The up-and-coming singer/songwriter and guitarist dropped out after a year before making her way to Los Angeles in the early '80s to give a shot at a career in music. Etheridge's music at this point was slightly more bluesy than her subsequently renowned folk-pop style, as a demo of original compositions caught the attention of Bill Leopold, who signed on as Etheridge's manager. Soon after, steady gigs began coming her way, including a five-night-a-week residency at the Executive Suite in Long Beach, which led to a bidding war between such major record labels as A&M, Capitol, EMI, and Warner Bros., but it was Island Records that Etheridge decided to go with.

Etheridge's first recorded work appeared on the forgotten soundtrack to the Nick Nolte prison movie Weeds before her self-titled debut was issued in 1988. The album quickly drew comparisons to such heavyweights as Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, as it spawned the hit single "Bring Me Some Water" and earned gold certification. In the wake of the album's success, Etheridge performed at the Grammy Awards the following year and contributed vocals to Don Henley's The End of the Innocence. Etheridge managed to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump with 1989's Brave and Crazy, which followed the same musical formula as its predecessor and proved to be another gold-certified success. It would be nearly three years before Etheridge's next studio album appeared, however, and 1992 signaled the arrival of Never Enough, an album that proved to be more musically varied.

But it was Etheridge's fourth release that would prove to be her massive commercial breakthrough. Tired of rumors and questions regarding her sexuality, Etheridge decided to put the speculation to rest once and for all, titling the album Yes I Am. Ex-Police producer Hugh Padgham guided the album, which spawned two major MTV/radio hits with "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window" (the latter of which featured a video with movie actress Juliette Lewis); the album would sell a staggering six million copies in the U.S. during a single-year period and earned a 1995 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocalist. But subsequent releases failed to match the success of Yes I Am, including 1995's Your Little Secret, 1999's Breakdown, and 2001's Skin, the latter of which dealt with her separation from Julie Cypher. (Cypher had birthed the couple's two children via artificial insemination; CSN&Y's David Crosby was the father.)

Etheridge's autobiography, -The Truth Is: My Life in Love and Music, was released in 2002, and 2004's Lucky was her celebration of a new romance. Later that same year Etheridge revealed that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. But early detection allowed for recovery, and she gave strength to many of those stricken by the disease with a powerful performance of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" at the 47th annual Grammys, held in February 2005. That September Etheridge released Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled, a compilation of career highlights and new material. It featured a cover of Tom Petty's "Refugee" as well as "Piece of My Heart" and a new song dedicated to breast cancer survivors. In 2007 Etheridge released her first studio album of new material in three years, The Awakening, on Island, following it a year later in 2008 with a holiday album, A New Thought for Christmas, also on Island. Fearless Love appeared early in 2010. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi