MELISSA ETHERIDGE TO RELEASE NEW STUDIO ALBUM THE AWAKENING ON SEPTEMBER 25TH ON ISLAND RECORDS

            It was announced today that multi-platinum Oscar®-winner and two time Grammy®-winner Melissa Etheridge will release her first studio album in 3 ½ years, THE AWAKENING, on September 25, 2007 on Island Records.  Her 9^th studio album, THE AWAKENING, has been described as a collection of powerful and playful yet confessional and engaging songs that are personal as well as universal.    THE AWAKENING was co-produced with David Cole and recorded with her band: bassist Mark Browne, drummer Mauricio 'Fritz' Lewak, and guitarist Philip Sayce.

The first single, "Message to Myself," goes to radio on July 30.  It rides an indelible pop hook that is surely Melissa’s most buoyant sing-along.   The sly "Threesome" is a country-rocker that is unlikely to be covered by Carrie Underwood.  Other songs include "California," "An Unexpected Rain,"  "I've Loved You Before" and "The Universe Listened."   They are poetically detailed chapters of her remarkable life and the epiphanies along the way.

"The album is my story and my journey.  I hope that it will ring universally," states Melissa.  "I began to retrace the path of my own American dream: from my early years in California in the ‘80s, to my dream for fame and fortune and my sad realization of the false images that lead so many of us into misery," elaborates Melissa.  The story begins with Melissa's first steps, continuing through her well-chronicled rise to fame as a rock star, activist, parent of four, cancer survivor, and 2007 Academy Award winner for her song "I Need To Wake Up." 

            Melissa's first album, Melissa Etheridge (1988), was a critically-acclaimed debut that led to an invitation to sing on the 1989 Grammy® Awards broadcast.  For several years, her popularity built around such memorable originals as "Bring Me Some Water," "No Souvenirs" and "Ain't It Heavy," for which she won a Grammy® in 1992. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am (1993).  The collection featured the massive hits, "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," a searing song of longing that brought Etheridge her second Grammy® Award for Best Female Rock Performance. 

In 1995, Etheridge issued her highest charting album, Your Little Secret, which was distinguished by the hit single, "I Want to Come Over."  Her astounding success that year led to Etheridge receiving the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards in 1996.

Melissa continued to write, record, and tour throughout the ‘90s and into the new millennium, releasing Skin (2001) and the upbeat Lucky (2004) along with her DVDs Live And Alone (2002) and Lucky Live (2004).  2005 marked the release of Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled, which includes "I Run for Life," commissioned by Ford Cares as part of their cancer initiative in support of The Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure. The album was recently re-released in an Eco-pak, to include Melissa's Oscar® winning song "I Need To Wake Up."

            In April 2007, Melissa Etheridge received the distinguished ASCAP Founders Award honoring the anthemic power, compassion, and generosity of spirit of her music, and her enduring status as one of the greatest all-time female rock icons.

            "This is my ninth album and I wanted to get back to why I love music," Melissa says of The Awakening.  "It's already a success for me.  I got to create it.  That was the fun and joy."

Contact: Laura Swanson, 212.333.8533
email: Laura.Swanson@umusic.com