The singer, who came out as gay in 1993, is the mother of four children.

Melissa Etheridge recalls moment 11-year-old son came out to her as straight: ‘Mom, I’m sorry’

The singer, who came out as gay in 1993, is the mother of four children.

By Kathleen Perricone

April 9, 2026 6:39 p.m. ET

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Melissa Etheridge with son Beckett in 2011. Credit:

CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty

Melissa Etheridge stopped by *The **Kelly Clarkson** Show* to discuss her new album, when the topic of the autobiographical song "Tomboy" stirred up a fond memory of her late son Beckett.

The two singers recalled their own girlhoods, bonding over growing up as tomboys during a time when it was stigmatized to prefer sports over dolls. These days, they agreed, "it has changed a bit," suggested Clarkson.

The host, who has two children with her late ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, shared that her son 10-year-old son Remy was concerned because, 'Somebody told me I couldn't paint my nails.' And I was like, 'You can do whatever you want.'"

Melissa Etheridge and Kelly Clarkson.

Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty

That reminded Etheridge — who came out as gay in 1993 — of the time her eldest son, Beckett, came to her with a similar quandary.

"When he was about 11, he came to me, he goes, 'Mom, I'm sorry, but I think I'm straight,'" she recalled with a smile, as Clarkson sat back back in her chair laughing. "I tried to tell him it was a phase, but, you know," Etheridge joked.

The two-time Grammy winner and her former partner, Julie Cypher, conceived Beckett and his older sister Bailey via sperm donated from music legend David Crosby — a revelation that earned the cover of *Rolling Stone* in February 2000.

Etheridge went on to have two more children with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels, twins Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven, now 19, and she raised all four out of the spotlight.

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But in May 2020, she had to make the heartbreaking announcement that Beckett had died at the age of 21.

"Today I join the thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction," Etheridge said in a statement. "My son Beckett, who was just 21, struggled to overcome his addiction and finally succumbed to it today. He will be missed by those who loved him, his family, and friends. My heart is broken. I am grateful for those who have reached out with condolences and I feel their love and sincere grief."

Etheridge promised fans she would sing again, and six years later she has released her first collection of new music, *Rise* — which includes "Call You," about Beckett.

"I had to just write a song about losing my son, and how I lived with that," she recently told *Billboard*. "That's one of the things that I miss; in any sort of loss with anyone, I think, you just go, 'Oh, I want to call that person. I just want to talk and connect with them,' and you can't. But I wanted the song to have hope and really state that even though I've experienced this great loss, I can't stop living and enjoying life. He wouldn't want me to stop living."

"Call You" was the first track Etheridge wrote for *Rise*, her 17th album.

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"It's a very simple song about, 'Since I can't call you anymore I'm just gonna take a drive. I'm gonna go to my hometown, I'm gonna dance, I'm gonna go to my garden and grow things — even though, Jesus, this is horrible," she explained.

"It's something I really wanted to model for my other children, and for anyone in the world who's gone through loss… I have gone through this, I've expressed it and I'm living and I'm loving and I'm surviving and finding a way to not be drowning in guilt and shame."

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