Melissa Etheridge's brave comeback

Arriving at the Grammys, with Tammy at her side, Melissa wasn't sure how people would react.

Phillips: “Nobody had seen you. There'd been no pictures, nothing.”

Etheridge: ”No nothing. And I stepped out, and there was just sort of this wonderful, warm applause. And I was oh, and I thought for a minute I was going to lose it, thinking, oh, what am I doing? This is really intense." 

But the jitters were gone as fellow singer Joss Stone called her to the stage.

Etheridge: “I knew my own love of performing. And I knew that my own adrenaline could absolutely carry me through for two and a half minutes. I knew I could do it. And I wanted to do it.”

Phillips: “And those lyrics. I mean, that song… Talk about showing everybody, baby, that a woman can be tough.”

Etheridge: “I didn't even think about that, until I was performing it. And I think—“

Phillips: “Are you kidding-- really?”

Etheridge: “Well, I'd gone back and looked at the-- because I TiVoed it, and I look at the part where I sing 'and a woman can be tough' and I like roll my eyes and I remember singing it, going, oh, yeah, I guess that has a little double meaning here."

The audience was blown away. Her voice sure, her look, stunning.

Phillips: “I thought you looked just beautiful. How did you feel you looked?”

Etheridge: “There's a real -- I don't know if it's called beauty. It's hard for me to step into that word. But there's a radiance. There's something.”

Phillips: “During the performance, how did you feel? Were you tired? Were you concerned that your energy was going to fade?”

Etheridge: “Because I was moving and singing in such a hard song, that by the second verse, I got tired. I was like, uh oh. And I thought, wow."

Phillips: “And you got the big scream coming.”

Etheridge: “And I've got the big scream coming. The scream was so cathartic. It was such-- it was the release. Believe me! I mean, rock and roll is cathartic, anyway. Full on.  But to be able to throw my head back, and scream the last six months out of me, I'm completely grateful for that.”

In a way, Etheridge says, her battle with cancer has been a gift. 

Etheridge: “I have never known such love, and good energy that is coming to me every day.  Every moment.”

Phillips: “That's the gift.”

Etheridge: “A wonderful gift. I've changed my lifestyle. I have taken what I consider poisonous thing, out of my life. Out of my food, out of my work, out of my social circle, out of everything. Because I want a clean, cancer-free life. And I believe I can have that.”

Phillips: “Even as a rock star.”

Etheridge: “Even as a rock star. I know. It's a funny profession. But even as a rock star. Yeah.”

Phillips: “Are you cancer-free today?”

Etheridge: “Yes. Yes, I am. In every detectable way. And in every knowing way. In my heart and my mind I know that I'm cancer free.”

Phillips: “Well, here's to healing, and here's to the healing power of rock and roll.”

Etheridge: “Oh yes. That's for sure.”

Her latest CD is called, "Lucky Live." And that's exactly how Melissa Etheridge feels these days, as a breast cancer survivor.

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