Melissa Etheridge Recalls Feeling 'Uncomfortable' That She Wasn't Out 'Because My Music Was So Personal'

Ilana KaplanMon, June 1, 2026 at 7:26 PM UTC

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Melissa Etheridge in October 2024 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty -

Melissa Etheridge recalled feeling "uncomfortable" before she came out because of how "personal" her music was

In an interview with iHeartRadio's Elton John Impact Awards podcast on Monday, June 1, the rocker said that at the time her music was "genderless"

Etheridge came out as a lesbian in 1993

Melissa Etheridge reflected on how she felt as an artist sharing her music before coming out as a lesbian.

During the Monday, June 1 episode of iHeartRadio's Elton John Impact Awards podcast, the rocker recalled feeling "uncomfortable" because of how candid her music was before coming out in 1993.

Etheridge, 65, recalled feeling uneasy about not sharing her sexuality publicly around the time her third studio album Never Enough was released in 1992.

"I started thinking, gosh, you know, it's getting a little uncomfortable because my music was so personal," she said. "It was very, you know, it was very interrelational music — songs about, you know, passion and desire and heartbreak, and, and so the questions that interviewers would give me were more detailed."

Etheridge continued, "And I was always very, very careful to just say 'they,' 'them,' 'you' [when referring to a partner], and even my music was very genderless."

Melissa Etheridge in 1990 in West Hollywood, Calif.
Credit: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

The "Come to My Window" performer had been discussing a 1992 Music Express interview where a journalist referred to her partner as her "boyfriend."

"Underground, people knew I was a lesbian, and it just horrified me. I said, 'People are gonna think I'm lying and I'm trying to cover up. And it just, it horrified me. So I was like, 'No, no, no. I need to come out,'" Etheridge said on the podcast.

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In April, the "Bein' Alive" musician also spoke to Artist Friendly about the impact of the article using the term "boyfriend" and how "crazy" it felt at the time.

"I was on the cover of Music Express, and he changed every pronoun that I used," Etheridge claimed, adding that the switch to "boyfriend" had "horrified" her.

She worried that the gay community would think that she was responsible for the change.

While Etheridge planned to come out publicly as a lesbian on The Arsenio Hall Show, she ended up working on the Bill Clinton and Al Gore presidential campaign in 1992, which shifted her plans.

She ended up coming out as a lesbian at Clinton's inauguration instead.

'Elton John Impact Awards' podcast
Credit: iHeart

After the release of “I'm the Only One” — which later became her biggest hit and peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995 — Etheridge came out publicly in 1993.

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