519: Melissa Etheridge on grief, connection and redemption

MELISSA ETHERIDGE is my guest this week. Yes, THE Melissa Etheridge. She’s touring once again, kicking off in Perth in May, then heading east stopping all stations, Adelaide, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Sydney (which is already sold out). She’s bringing some family with her as you’re about to hear she is very very excited about it. If this is your first time hearing about this remarkable woman, let me bring you up to speed. Melissa Etheridge is a Grammy winning, Oscar winning singer/songwriter superstar. For over 30 years her distinctive voice has told stories of love, passion and heartache. She’s publicly lived through challenges that most people experience in private - her journey of coming out, a cancer diagnosis, hair loss from the chemo, and recently the absolutely tragic loss of her son Beckett who passed away from an opioid overdose at just 21. Yeah, heads up - we talk about that, and I end up crying in this chat. Melissa, however, has used her grief to explore ways of treating addiction by supporting world-first research into the use of plant medicines previously associated with sacred ceremony and how they might be able to save lives so affected by addiction.

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