Melissa Etheridge Opens Up about Son's Opioids-Related Death

Melissa Etheridge opened up on NBC's TODAY program about how she, her wife Linda Wallem, and their family are dealing with the opioid-related death of her 21-year-old son, Beckett Cypher, who passed away in May.

Speaking via video link on Sept. 10, Etheridge told TODAY hosts Hoda & Jenna that her close-knit family has been supportive, and noted that losses such as theirs are endured by far too many other American families.

"In the end, there's a small amount of peace knowing he's not in pain any more," Etheridge said. "Of course we miss him, but my wife and my three other children, we come together and we know he's here in spirit."

Added the singer-songwriter: "You just do it one day at a time."

Asked about the foundation she created in response to her son's death, Etheridge said, "This is an epidemic. We lose over 150,000 people a year to opioid addiction. One thing that helped me was starting the Etheridge Foundation... it's a foundation to research alternatives to get off of this track of pharmaceuticals, research to understand pain, to understand addiction."

Etheridge added that she and her collaborators on the foundation "really want to move to forefront quickly, to understand things that can help with opioid addiction."

As the conversation turned to the healing power of music, the recording star went on to talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to begin looking into how to stream her music in order to "connect" with her fans. She and Wallem - who, Etheridge noted, "used to work in TV" - set up a "streaming studio" in their garage to provide live and on-demand content on Etheridge TV.

To watch the interview, click here.