生于堪萨斯州Leavenworth市中西部的一个小镇,8岁就开始把玩吉他,不到11岁就开始音乐创作。13岁时,早熟的她就已经面对观众表演了。在Berklee音乐学校待了一段简短的时间,21岁时便只身前往洛杉矶。一次长岛俱乐部的演出后,被签入了Island唱片公司。
自从1988年发行首张专辑至今,Melissa Etheridge(梅丽莎•艾特里奇)已经在全世界卖出了超过两千五百万张唱片,囊括两座葛莱美音乐奖。99年专辑「Breakdown」主题回归到人们生命里最终极的命题:爱与失落、良知与困惑、畏惧、希望,以及在矛盾中追求平衡点。首支单曲"Angels Would Fall"中对灵魂的渴望与追寻,直入Billboard成人抒情榜TOP 10;"Truth Of The Heart"当中对红尘的了悟,Melissa Etheridge并没有背叛那些因她的真诚而追随着她的乐迷。
I Need To Wake Up
Have I been sleeping?
I’ve been so still
Afraid of crumbling
Have I been careless?
Dismissing all the distant rumblings
Take me where I am supposed to be
To comprehend the things that I can’t see
Cause I need to move
I need to wake up
I need to change
I need to shake up
I need to speak out
Something is got to break up
I’ve been asleep
And I need to wake up
Now
And as a child
I danced like it was 1999
My dreams were wild
But the promise of this new world
Would be mine
Now I am throwing off the carelessness of youth
To listen to an inconvenient truth
Well I need to move
I need to wake up
I need to change
I need to shake up
I need to speak out
Something is got to break up
I’ve been asleep
And I need to wake up
Now
I am not an island
I am not alone
I am my intentions
Trapped here in this flesh and bone
And I need to move
I need to wake up
I need to change
I need to shake up
I need to speak out
Something is got to break up
I’ve been asleep
And I need to wake up
Now