Melissa Etheridge Discusses Her Support for Closeted LGBTQ+ Musicians

Out recording artist Melissa Etheridge recalled being a sounding board for still-closeted LGBTQ+ people in the music industry, telling them, "I don't have a judgement."

People Magazine reported that Etheridge, 62, "opened up to Chris Wallace about supporting other musicians in the LGBTQ+ community after she came out" herself in 1993, the same year her breakthrough album "Yes I Am" was released, launching her career to a new level and making her an icon to queer fans. The album yielded three Top 40 hits, and won Etheridge her second Grammy.

"Some of them, were basically just apologizing to me saying, 'OK, you know I'm gay, but I can't come out,'" Etheridge recounted on a Feb. 2 appearance on "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?"

"And I'm like, I don't have a judgment on your coming out. That's a very personal thing, especially professionally," the "Come to my Window" singer said.

Wallace recalled that Etheridge's coming out and the album were entwined, and asked if there had been concern about how Etheridge's career might be affected.

"I think everyone kind of held their breath a little bit," Etheridge said, "but they believed in the album." Even so, "it was a rough ride there for a while," Etheridge said.

Clearly, Etheridge's emergence from the closet did not derail her career. But other musicians were too afraid to come out as soon as she had.

Wallace noted that Etheridge had spoken in the past about performers as diverse as Barry Manilow and Ricky Martin discussing the prospect of coming out with her, and deliberating about the impact on their careers that embracing authenticity might have.

Etheridge indicated that her role wasn't to advise so much as listen, telling Wallace that "sometimes it was just nice for someone to talk to them about it."

Perhaps speaking from experience, she added: "And it just feels so much better to be who you are. And then the ones that did come out, you know, it was like, look, this is about your own personal health. You can't put album sales or movie sales in front of your own personal health."

"And ultimately," Etheridge added, "that's what it comes down to, is how you can live."

That wasn't quite the whole story, however. As previously reported, Etheridge recalled last year during an appearance on "Free Speech + Other Dirty Words" that Island Records expressed concern about "the gay thing," wondering, "What are we going to do" about it.

Etheridge held firm, telling the label, "I'm not gonna pretend I'm something else. I'm not gonna go find a guy to take pictures with and, you know, pretend he's my boyfriend. I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna be me."

Etheridge added: "And they said, 'Well, as long as you don't flag wave.' And I was like, 'Okay.'"

"That was, of course, that was before we had a rainbow," Etheridge added. "But four years later, I was flag waving."

Watch a snippet from Etheridge's interview with Wallace below.