Melissa Etheridge’s new album is about ‘rising up after devastation’: ‘It’s very hopeful’

March 26, 2026 1

Melissa Etheridge, ‘Rise’ (Sun Records)

Melissa Etheridge’s new album, Rise, out Friday, is her first album of new, original material since the 2020 death of her 21-year-old son, Beckett Cypher. But despite that, the album contains a lot of joy.

The album is titled Rise after a song of the same name that Melissa wrote after the LA fires, which got her thinking about “rising up after devastation.”

“I’ve … had enough ups and downs in my life that I realized that … life is full of loss, and it helps you appreciate what we do have and the relationships we have and how we move through them,” she told ABC Audio. “And so Rise is very hopeful.”

But the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee was only ready to write “the uplifting part” of the album after completing “Call You,” a song about Beckett.

“I knew I wanted to just state that, yes, I’ve experienced this incredible loss, this crushing loss. And I’m not going to stop living … I’m going to keep going, even if you’re not here,” she said.

In keeping with the album’s theme, “Call You” is followed by “More Love,” which Melissa first performed at her daughter Bailey Cypheridge’s wedding in September 2025.

Melissa kicks off a tour in support of the album Thursday in Detroit and told ABC Audio that fans will definitely hear the hits, noting, “That’s why I play. I love nothing more than getting up and screaming and shouting, ‘I’m the Only One.'”

But she also plans to play seven or eight songs from the new album, for those who are familiar with some of the songs and want to hear them live, and to encourage those who haven’t to check them out.

As she explained, “I just think it creates new memories.”