Melissa Etheridge is staring down quite an itinerary in 2026.
She has a batch of headlining tour dates kicking off March 26 at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in Detroit. The tour kicks off the day before the release of Rise, the singer-songwriter’s 17th studio album. This summer will also see Etheridge join forces with country legend Wynonna Judd on a co-headlining tour.
On top of all of that, last month saw Etheridge receive her long overdue first nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Artists are eligible for nomination/induction 25 years after the release of their first commercial recording. Etheridge released her self-titled debut album in 1988 and has been eligible for nomination/induction since 2013. (The Rock Hall Fan Vote is currently open. Fans can vote for their picks for the 2026 Rock Hall class once per day at vote.rockhall.com. Voting closes on April 3.)
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“I’m actually feeling really good about this year. And, you know, the nomination is a part of it,” said Etheridge in a recent interview with Hour Detroit. She also noted that friend and fellow singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2023, championed her as an artist who more than deserved consideration.
Reflecting on the nomination, Etheridge said, “It feels better than I thought it would. After all these years, I was like, ‘You know what? It’s okay. I don’t need that [recognition]. I have enough validation every night when I’m on stage.’ … I feel like I’m old enough now and wise enough to kind of take everything in this time.”
Below is Etheridge’s conversation with Hour Detroit, which has been edited for clarity and length.
Three tracks from Rise have been released as a preview of the album: “Bein’ Alive,” “Matches,” and “Don’t You Want A Woman.” I can’t wait for the weather to get better to take these songs on the road with the windows rolled down, but I have a feeling from these three songs that this album is going to cause me to floor it and get some speeding tickets.
[Laughing] That’s what I make music for! For people that get in the car and drive!
You co-produced this album with Grammy Award winning-producer Shooter Jennings. Talk to me about how you two got together.
I had enjoyed the music Brandi Carlile was making. She’s a good friend, and I just researched who she’d worked with, and Shooter came up, and a couple people recommended him to me. We’re both [based] in LA. I went to see him and met him. It was like 15 minutes, and it was like I was sitting with an old friend. And he has the same feeling about music. He has such a great heart, a great ear. He’s about it being fun … It was just an amazing experience. I can’t wait to work with him again. It was so incredible!
Speaking of working with people, Rise features the track “The Other Side Of Blue,” your duet with Chris Stapleton. What was it like working with him?
I’m such a big Chris Stapleton fan. When it came time to write and do the album, I realized I was going to do it with Sun Records. I thought, “Okay, this is going to be kind of a Nashville thing. I’m going to lean a little little into my country roots, even though I’ve just been very rock and roll.”
… I’d never met him, and I went to my manager, said, “Look, there’s really only one person I want to write with, or, you know, even kind of duet with, and that would be Chris Stapleton.” And she said, “Well, I’ll check it out.” He was going to be in Nashville for one day, and he said he was able to meet me on that day. It’s kind of a medium tempo song. When we wrote it together, I said, “Chris, I think the world kind of wants to hear you and I sing together. So, let’s really consider doing this.” He put his vocals on it, I put mine on, and it’s probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.
You’re kicking off your headlining tour in Detroit in support of your new album. One of your recent performances in the city was at Michigan Central Station in honor of its reopening in June 2024. How did you get involved with that show?
My management. One of the guys that I work with, he was part of putting that show together. He knew I was off and that I wasn’t doing anything that week. He said, “Hey, you want to come to Detroit? You could do a Bob Seger song.” And I’m a massive Bob Seger fan. That song [I performed], “Mainstreet,” was a staple on my 8-track player in my Chevy. I had it completely memorized. It was just a great opportunity and a wonderful experience. I got to hang out with Jelly Roll, and we just had a great time.
Besides “Mainstreet,” were there any other Seger songs that were some of your go-to tracks while riding around in your Chevy?
Oh, my God…”Hollywood Nights.” You know, come on! And, of course, “Night Moves” and “Against the Wind.” I’m a big Bob Seger fan. I used to play his music a lot in the bars and clubs.
While I could talk forever about Seger with you, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the NFL and your beloved Kansas City Chiefs. As much as last season didn’t go how Lions fans thought, the same can be said for the Chiefs. How are you feeling about your team right now?
We just took the year off. I think that was what we did, which is just fine. I’ve had an amazing run for the last nine years or so. I’m getting excited again already…I have all my faith in our general manager, Brett Veatch, who has already gone out and gotten Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker. I have Andy Reid, I have Patrick Mahomes, I have Travis Kelce. Anything is possible.
And you never know with Detroit; you really stepped up. You got our [free agent] running back Isiah Pacheco.
With that being said, if there was anyone from the Lions that you could poach and put them on the Chiefs, who would it be?
Aiden Hutchinson just sends chills down my spine. He’s the thing; he’s it!
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