Rock star Melissa Etheridge takes a poignant journey in her new docuseries, “Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken,” where she opens up about her son Beckett’s tragic death due to opioid addiction. The series, premiering on Paramount+, not only showcases her musical talents but also delves deep into her personal struggles and the connections she forms with incarcerated women.
Etheridge, 63, grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas, a place known for its numerous prisons. She recalls seeing the federal penitentiary from her backyard and being inspired by Johnny Cash’s performance there when she was just seven years old. “At the time, I thought prisons must be a place of great entertainment,” she told The Post.
As a teenager, Etheridge performed at a prison, and the enthusiastic response from the inmates left a lasting impression on her. “It really stayed with me,” she said. “As I got my own career going and started making albums, I thought, ‘I want to go back. I want to go to a women’s penitentiary and give them music.’”
The two-episode docuseries follows Etheridge as she prepares for a concert at the Topeka Correctional Facility in Kansas. The series intersperses footage of her performance with her interactions with the inmates and her reflections on Beckett’s death at age 21 in 2020 due to opioid addiction.
Etheridge, who came out as a lesbian in 1993 and has been married to “Nurse Jackie” co-creator Linda Wallem since 2014, is a mother of four. She had Beckett and Bailey Jean, 27, with her ex-partner Julie Cypher, using David Crosby as a sperm donor. She also has twins Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven, 17, with her ex-partner Tammy Lynn Michaels.
Reflecting on Beckett’s death, Etheridge shared, “About 20 years ago, I went through breast cancer, and it changed my outlook on life. Part of that is understanding that I can’t save anyone. Everyone’s here to make their own choices. And all of us have our own things to learn and grow from, even my children.”
She continued, “I’m not here to tell them, ‘This is what you’re going to do with your life,’ that’s not my business. My business is to love them, to feed and water them and maybe show them that the world is an amazing place where you can create.”
Etheridge acknowledged that Beckett’s passing was incredibly difficult to deal with. “It doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel guilt, and I didn’t feel shame. Of course, I did at the time, especially being so public,” she explained. “But, the years of a connection with myself made it possible for me to find a light in that dark tunnel and go, ‘Yes, I lost my son. I did everything I could. I did the best I could to keep myself alive. And now that he’s gone, he’s out of pain. He’s in this nonphysical place that I believe is pain-free.’ And so, me suffering makes no sense, because he’s out of pain. So that’s really how I do that.”
In the docuseries, Etheridge exchanges letters and fosters friendships with several inmates, most of whom are in prison for drug-related causes. “This was right after my son died. And so, the connection was deeper now,” she explained. “Now the film, it wasn’t just me going into prison playing music for incarcerated people. This was, ‘Wow, I can really relate to where you’re at.’”
Etheridge’s friendships with the inmates continued even after the production of the documentary ended. “I’m going to see them again… it really makes me rethink how we think about crime and punishment. Ninety-eight or 99 percent of the women are incarcerated because of drug addiction brought on by early trauma. It’s not like we need to punish these people because they did something wrong,” she told The Post. “They need help. I enjoy talking with these people, and some of them are coming up for parole. So I really want to support them.”
“Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken” premieres on Paramount+ on July 9, 2024.
Source: The Post, Paramount+
