Melissa Etheridge has spoken out for the first time after her son Beckett died of an overdose at 21 years old back in May. As People shares, Etheridge revealed how her own music has helped her through the grieving process in a brand-new television interview!
Etheridge says music has "got me through everything"
Etheridge talked to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts about how she's been doing over the past little while. "Time does heal. It's only been a couple of months, but I've been very busy and made myself very busy," she said. "You go one day at a time. You get through the grief and you get to the healing."
As it turns out, one thing that's helped Etheridge heal is music! "There's something about singing, something about opening the soul, it's got me through everything," she explained.
Etheridge explains how she's found solace in her music
Etheridge then talked about the impact her own music has had on her during this time. "So many people throughout my life said, 'Your music got me through this, your music got me through that.' And I now am using my music to get me through this," she shared.
In particular, Etheridge's song "Talking to My Angel" has been a comfort to her. As People mentions, she wrote after her father passed away. "That was about connecting to those who have passed to the non-physical," Etheridge said. "I've been talking to my angel and he says that it's all right. It's a way of self-soothing that I can draw on."
Etheridge launched online show "to connect with people"
Etheridge also started an online streaming show called Etheridge TV that includes concerts and live chats. "It's a way to connect to people. It's, of course, healing for me -- but mostly to connect with my fans," she told Roberts. "Because all over, we are isolated and it's starting to get hard on us."
"It's one thing that I think contributed to Beckett's passing that he had nowhere to go," Etheridge continued. "He couldn't get on his skateboard and go to the skateboard park. There are people who are still suffering and I want to give them relief in this crazy world that we are in right now."
Etheridge says she did "everything she can" to help son
Etheridge also admitted she still feels responsible for Beckett. "As a parent, you know your children have their own lives and make their own choices -- but you just can't help to feel responsible, of course, for them," she said, mentioning she did "everything she can" to try and help him.
"When you see one start to struggle, you go through so many things," she continued. "You go through the, 'What can I do to help them?' You go through the, 'Wait, I'm doing too much, I don't want to enable this.' They need to find themselves, they need to fall to get back up."
As well, Etheridge talked about wanting to honour her son's memory by funding opioid addiction research programs with her charity, the Etheridge Foundation. "I'm very intense about raising funds for research into what we can do with this disease," she said. "This scourge that takes so many of our young people every day."
