Contact Music (I had to put this one at the top. I'm sappy that way <g>):

ETHERIDGE OFFERS KIDS PIGTAILS

Cancer sufferer MELISSA ETHERIDGE had a special way of explaining what chemotherapy would do to her hair to her kids - she let them have a pigtail each.

The brave rocker, who appeared bald at the GRAMMY AWARDS last night (13FEB05), has started growing back hair after her chemotherapy treatment and she found a special way to explain what she was going through to her children.

She says, "We knew mommy was going to lose her hair so the family came together and each cut off a pigtail of my hair to save."

Myrtle Beach Online:
The most powerful and moving performance was Melissa Etheridge's tear through Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart. Although chemotherapy -- the singer has breast cancer -- has taken her hair, it's apparently left her lungs and throat in excellent shape. Etheridge was joined by neo-soul singer Joss Stone, a protégé of Miami singer Betty Wright.

Twin Cities:
Most touching moment: During the pre-show, cancer survivor Lance Armstrong lovingly rubbed the bald head of Melissa Etheridge, who is recovering from breast cancer.

The State:
Melissa Etheridge isn't one to dodge hard truths, and she didn't seem the least bit self-conscious when she arrived at the Grammys with just a fuzz of hair, the result of chemotherapy for breast cancer that she finished last month. No wig, no hat, no wrap. Sheryl Crow and Lance Armstrong were behind her on the red carpet, and Armstrong - who has battled cancer himself - couldn't resist giving her head a playful rub.

MetroMix:
But the mostly unadventurous selections were trumped by several of the televised performances, an unusually lively broadcast by Grammy standards. It was startling to see a bald Melissa Etheridge, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, joyously ripping into a tribute to Janis Joplin by snarling the line, "A woman can be tough." She left no doubt.

New York Daily News:
Among the blinged-out babes on the Grammy Awards' red carpet last night, one woman was truly triumphant.

Melissa Etheridge, who recently finished chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer, made a one-woman winner's circle. Dressed in a black velvet ruffled blazer and jeans, accessorized with a giant smile, Etheridge looked fresher and prettier than anyone else who turned out to celebrate the biggest night in music.

She ran into Sheryl Crow, who was with boyfriend Lance Armstrong, another survivor. Crow dazzled in a Roberto Cavalli yellow halter cutout gown (a nod to her beau's ubiquitous LIVESTRONG bracelets) trimmed in luxe gold. It revealed an impossibly toned tummy — and signaled a huge trend, a full-on, 24-karat gold rush.

Edmonton Sun:
There were performers who didn't win and winners who didn't perform. Melissa Etheridge should get a Grammy just for her performance. Bald from chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer yet eschewing a wig, she wailed the tar out of Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart.

Calgary Sun:
If there was one moment, one person who shocked it back to life and gave rock a brief glimmer of hope, if only for a few moments, it was Melissa Etheridge paying musical tribute to Janis Joplin.

Most people will be talking about her clean-shaven dome, a byproduct from chemo treatments for breast cancer, but what they should be talking about is her voice - a sex-dripping, soul-wrenching instrument that expressed everything it means to be alive.

Miami Herald Sun:
More winners in the appropriate flesh category: Gwen Stefani in a black flapper micro-mini dress; Cyndi Lauper, stunning in champagne Dolce & Gabbana; hostess Queen Latifah who opened the show true to her assumed name with a Bradley Bayou red gown and tiara; Fergie, from the Black Eyed Peas, bared a body devoid of any back fat in a brown number with gold trim, and a defiantly bald Melissa Etheridge, recovering from breast cancer, who summed up the night with: "The Grammys. Where high fashion means getting stoned and going shopping."

Rocky Mountain News:
Joss Stone's tribute to Janis Joplin roared with authority, setting up Melissa Etheridge's courageous, blow-out, post-chemo version of Piece of My Heart. She's beautiful, even bald.

BlogCritics.com:
So then he mentions a Janis tribute featuring Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge. Well, I stood up right there when he said that. I thought (and said to my wife) Melissa Etheridge? No way, since she announced having breast cancer she has pretty much disappeared from the spotlight. I completely understand, and didn't expect to see her for a year or two. I have a sweet spot for her for many reasons, but chief among them is she was my first professional review. See here for that.

So I have wondered about how she is doing, because I am pretty obsessive in all aspects of music. I expected maybe a press release now and again, but she turned up and rocked tonight. The best part of it, to me, was she was bald! It took such courage for her to get up there without any hair (which I am assuming she has lost in Chemo treatment for cancer) and just tear it up. She looked great, she was full of expression and joy. She also was able to tell millions of cancer patients worldwide that it is ok to have cancer, and not to hide in shame.

And another Blog Critics post:
The Janis Joplin Tribute. Wow, Joss Stone was sorta OK...but then Melissa Etheridge came out and fricken tore the roof off the sucker.

Entertainment Weekly:
Attempting to match the exposed-nerve emotionality of the late Janis Joplin is an exercise in futility, so it's hard to fault Joss Stone for her technically proficient yet heartache-free "Cry Baby." (Apparently, losing Best New Artist to Maroon 5 didn't hurt the teen diva badly enough.) Yet when a bald, beautiful Melissa Etheridge (who's fighting breast cancer) joined Stone onstage and took command of "Piece of My Heart," the elder singer's triumphant performance - punctuated by a ferocious howl before the final chorus - provided a fitting climax to Joplin's overdue Lifetime Achievement win.

Hollywood Reporter:
Aside from the horrifying but thankfully fleeting moment when Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony borrowed a page from a telenovella to serenade one another in a language known perhaps only to them, Sunday night's 47th annual Grammy Awards telecast was everything the music industry itself these days is not: spirited, classy, inclusive, vibrant and generally rockin'. It also more or less proved the point that you can be safe and at the same time not stodgy, as the show's doggedly wholesome approach (even Lopez was covered like a blanket) didn't transform the event into a family values forum. Music's past was given its due without shortchanging the present, and the incomparable Melissa Etheridge demonstrated that one can be rendered bald from cancer-blasting chemotherapy and
still have no trouble summoning the spirit of Janis Joplin.
...
Joss Stone and Etheridge's honoring of Joplin -- with Etheridge turning on the juice in a rollicking "Piece of My Heart" -- was a genuine highlight, as was the for-charity all-star tribute to "Across the Universe" that was inspiring if not completely tuneful. It stood as somewhat metaphorical during an evening of multi-generational harmony, when Usher could share the stage with James Brown and have it seem almost cool.

The Journal News. (probably the most unique metaphor I've read):
Fellow feisty female Melissa Etheridge, proudly bald from cancer treatments, performed a ripping version of "Piece of My Heart" during a Janis Joplin tribute that squashed Joss Stone's hippie- chick persona like a varsity football player pummeling a freshman tackling dummy.

Rolling Stone:
One of the most moving highlights of the evening came with a tribute to late rock and blues singer Janis Joplin. R&B newcomer Joss Stone had the audience rapt when she ripped into a passionate rendition of "Piece of My Heart." But the real showstopper came when Melissa Etheridge burst onstage to take over, her head completely bald from her ongoing battle with breast cancer: her performance was incredibly intense. By the close of the explosive number, the cameras cut to the audience, where Joplin's surviving sister and brother could be seen giving their enthusiastic nod of approval.

St. Petersberg Times:
One of the night's most dazzling performances was a raw, emotional duet between rocker Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone, the young British soul singer nominated for Best New Artist, singing Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart.

Those wondering whether the bald Etheridge was making a fashion statement should know the singer-guitarist is battling breast cancer and undergoing radiation treatment. Even viewers unaware were surely blown away by Etheridge's untethered delivery.

WGAL Channel 8:
I've heard mixed reviews about the Grammy Award performances. I have to reveal my high points and my low points.

Melissa Etheridge showed courage with her head bald after months of chemotherapy from breast-cancer treatment.

Etheridge belted out "Piece of My Heart" in a rousing tribute to Janis Joplin.

Six months ago, the singer was diagnosed with breast cancer, but she said she's completed chemotherapy and is "feeling fine." She said her hair is actually growing back, despite almost no presence of it Sunday night.

I remember interviewing Etheridge years ago. She had just moved into a house in Los Angeles and we were doing a telephone interview. She was telling me that the house was empty and she was actually seated on a box in the middle of the living room floor.

We talked about music and I told her that her influences must have been England's Kate Bush, Janis Joplin, of course, and a few others. She asked me if that was the kind of music I was interested in, and I answered "yes." She told me to watch my mail because she was going to send me a cassette tape of a "new" singer she had just heard that she thought I would just love. I still have the cassette with, I believe, Melissa Etheridge's scrawled pencil writing on it. The tape was of a female artist named Tori Amos. As they say, the rest is history.

Etheridge had one of her representatives follow up with me to make sure I had received the tape. I still have the "While You Were Out" message one of the newsroom secretaries left on my desk that day. There are just some little things you don't forget. Here's to Etheridge's comeback and a healthy life.

E Online:
Etheridge's bold bald-is-beautiful statement - she's undergoing treatment for breast cancer - was noted almost universally as a high point of the telecast.

Washington Post:
Later, young British blues singer Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge (whose bald head showed the effects of her chemotherapy for breast cancer) knocked out a couple of Janis Joplin classics with aplomb. Especially Etheridge.

KLAS TV (there's more to the article than I've posted):
Ruthe says, "Everything is effected. Your hair, your weight, your skin. Everything is affected. And to see her come out and just go through it and just carry on in what her life's work is and not be side tracked, I thought was phenomenal. Because it sends a message that this is just a road bump. This is just something that you've got to get over and carry on. Don't give up."

New York Post. See the Pic of MLE on the cover here.
MELISSA'S BALD STATEMENT

By BILLY HELLER

February 15, 2005 -- Throaty songbird Melissa Etheridge's bold, baldheaded Grammy appearance evoked tears and tributes from scores of cancer survivors yesterday.

The defiant crooner - known as much for her openly lesbian lifestyle as her gift of gravelly voice - stunned the world when she bared her hairless head as she stepped onstage in her first public performance since she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

"I started crying tears of joy," said Manhattanite Sharon Blynn, 33, who lost her own hair during ovarian cancer treatments from 2000 to 2003 and who now runs a Web site called baldisbeautiful.com. "I immediately felt totally empowered and connected. She's a super- bold, bad-ass, bald chick."

Etheridge, 43, wowed Grammy watchers with her powerful rendition of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart," a duet with newcomer Joss Stone. Etheridge had finished chemotherapy three days after Christmas, losing her hair in the process, and will continue radiation treatments through the end of March, according to her publicist.

But Etheridge showed no signs of illness as she brought the house down at the Grammys.

"She was so full of life, hair or no hair," marveled Fran Visco, 57, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition and a breast- cancer survivor.

"I just thought she was wonderful. She wasn't hiding the fact that she had breast cancer. She was vibrant, powerful and so full of life. It was such a statement to the women across the country, inspiring them to not hide about breast cancer."

The star was diagnosed last October, after she found a lump in her breast that proved cancerous.

Shortly after her diagnosis, she was forced to cancel nearly a dozen concert tour dates.

After surgery, she posted a statement on her Web site saying, "I am fortunate to be under a wonderful doctor's care and thankful that this was caught early."

Geralyn Lucas, 37, who wrote a book about being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 27, praised Etheridge's courage at going bald at such a glam event.

"These awards shows are all about boobs and hair," Lucas said. "If you don't have cleavage, maybe you have the hair. She accepted herself as she is."

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer will strike 200,000 women this year and claim 40,000 lives.

Other famous breast cancer survivors include former First Lady Betty Ford, singer Olivia Newton-John and newswoman Linda Ellerbee.

Daily Trojan:
But from the height of the stands, Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge's tribute to Janis Joplin gave me an electric shock that soulful rock music is meant to deliver. First of all, Stone's voice is like liquid lightning, the way it dips and drags and shatters like it does. And Etheridge's wild screaming and scratchy-voiced delivery just captured the essence of the moment. During that performance, I really felt like they were bursting with the sheer energy of music, rock and power.

Washington Post, again:
Other political lessons from the Grammys? There were plenty:
...
Sexual identity is trumped by humanity and talent. Melissa Etheridge, her head shaved because she faces chemotherapy for breast cancer, brought the crowd to its feet with a Janis Joplin tribute, "Piece of My Heart." Etheridge is a lesbian, but I'll bet
not even Alan Keyes reached to change the channel.

Sacremento Bee:
And Melissa Etheridge, her head shaved after undergoing chemotherapy to treat breast cancer, made a triumphant return to the spotlight during a tribute to the late lifetime achievement award winner Janis Joplin.

Etheridge's bluesy caterwauling on "Piece of My Heart" - and her piercing, passionate shriek near the song's end - provided one of the most soulful, stirring moments in Grammy memory.

The Oregonian:
Bald and belting it out
Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Melissa Etheridge, bald from cancer treatment, roared onto the Grammy stage Sunday night singing a Janis Joplin classic with as much fierce, throaty joy as Joplin herself.

The multiplatinum rocker was gorgeous, but her looks weren't the point. This was no simple "bald is beautiful" message to the wildly cheering audience, the millions of people watching at home and all of the women who've suffered cancer-related hair loss.

This was a battle cry: I've got cancer, my hair is gone, and I'm still rocking.

Many women say hair loss is the most traumatic part of having cancer -- worse than losing a breast or enduring chemotherapy. Losing hair can feel like the equivalent of losing femininity, beauty and therefore value. Covering up at all costs, even with an
itchy wig in summer, is a way many women choose to protect their self-identities and fend off pity during treatment.

Fortunately, the wigs are getting better. Former Portland Mayor Vera Katz, battling cancer, can attest to that. More important, the stigma about cancer and the pressure for women to hide their illness are fading. The growing emphasis is on physical and mental health, rather than on narrow notions of beauty.

Etheridge, 43, is one of the lucky ones. Her breast cancer was detected early. She has excellent medical care and a supportive partner (not to mention access to some of the nation's best makeup artists). Up on the stage, she almost made cancer look easy. As
anyone close to cancer knows, however, the disease can be singularly harrowing.

But Etheridge did a beautiful thing Sunday, belting out "Piece of My Heart" as if she were flinging the lyrics to the gods. This bald, proud woman made the cure for cancer seem not just possible, but essential and inevitable.

Arizona Republic:
Showstopper: In a tribute to Janis Joplin, Joss Stone - dressed like a barefoot hippie chick in a flowing orange gown with a plunging neckline - channeled the rock legend's prowling stage presence in Cry Baby. Melissa Etheridge got a warm roar of welcome when she stepped onstage with her head shaved, due to her fight with cancer.
During Piece of My Heart, she smiled and rolled her eyes as she sang, "I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough."

Grenwich Time: Read the whole thing. It's good.
The guts and glory of survival momentarily sidelined the glitz and glamour of the Grammys this past weekend. A show normally dominated by bared midriffs and chest-revealing outfits had an element of raw, unabashed dignity when rocker Melissa Etheridge took the stage. It was her first public performance since she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the very public homage was evident in her hairless head
and bold bravery. Here, the music was the backdrop: The performer said more in silence than through lyrics, an eye-opening testament to remarkable will.

The Lafayette Online:
However, the performances may have been the only thing keeping me from switching back to Desperate Housewives. Melissa Etheridge's wonderful duet with Joss Stone, marked by her haunting appearance due to an ongoing battle with breast cancer, was both moving and inspirational.

Herald Tribune:
Here, then, are the Grammys that Never Were, Version 2005:
...
Most Courageous Performance: A shorn Melissa Etheridge, belting out a stunning rendition of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" despite battling breast cancer.

Star Telegram:
The Fab Five
1. Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone
Sure, their Janis Joplin tribute at last week's Grammys was more slavish imitation than interpretation, but when the imitation is this good -- from Stone's hippy chic to Etheridge's dead-on Piece of My Heart scream -- it's hard to kvetch. Sure beat the other tributes -- and Etheridge's cancer-driven bald look was stunning.

TriCities.com (Bristol Heral Courier):
THUMBS UP TO:
* Rocker Melissa Etheridge, who is battling breast cancer and lost her trademark mane of hair to chemotherapy. Etheridge's gutsy bald performance on the Grammy stage was inspirational to women everywhere, especially other cancer survivors. In this age, when all women are still too often judged on looks, Etheridge is a role model. You go, girl.