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Iconic singer Melissa Etheridge is opening up about the loss of her forever 21-year-old son, Beckett Cypher.
“It took a while,” Etheridge, 65, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, June 5, of the work she has done to process her son’s death. “I just sat down and just really let it happen. It’s like, ‘OK, how do I want to? Well, since I can’t call you anymore’ — because we used to, he texted me every day, used to call me, text me. I spoke to him every day.”
She continued, “That’s when I feel the most the most, so that’s where I wanted to say, well, since I can’t call you anymore, I can’t do it, I’m going to go garden. I’m going to take a drive. I’m going to do these things. I’m going to keep living, even though you know I have that.”
Etheridge and her ex Julie Cypher’s son died in 2020 at the age of 21 from what was later determined to be complications and causes of opioid addiction.
“We’re sad to inform you that Melissa’s son Beckett passed away and there will not be a Concerts From Home show today. – #TeamMe,” the singer announced via X, then Twitter, at the time.
A year later, in a 2021 interview with People TV, Etheridge opened up about her son’s final days.
Melissa Etheridge (2nd L) posing with her son Beckett (2nd R), daughter Baile Getty Images
“He was paranoid … All of a sudden he was involved with guns,” she said at the time, adding that her son became addicted to opioids after he was prescribed pain medication at age 17 to treat an ankle injury. “I tried to get him [treatment]. I tried to get him to let me call an ambulance for him, then he stopped calling me. He didn’t call me for four days, and twice we sent a wellness check on him. The second time, they found him dead.”
The moments when she misses her son the most — the moments when she wants to but can’t call him — inspired one of her latest songs, aptly titled “Call You.”
“Because it’s about the loss of my son, and it was the first song I wrote,” Etheridge told Us of how her son inspired the track, while discussing her latest album Rise and CMA Fest performance. “I knew when I made up my mind — yeah, I’m going to do a whole new album, original material, you know, just me writing songs like I’ve always done — I knew I would have to write about that.”
She added, “I would have to find a way to express where I’m at with the loss of my son, and it’s almost impossible to express that sort of pain. But I knew I’d have to sit down — and I was able to, in this song, just get across that sometimes we can drown in guilt and shame.”
Etheridge went on to tell Us that the constant questions of, “Did I do enough?” and, “Did I do too much?” and, “Was there something else I could have done?” can be maddening — but as a wife and a mother, she had to “find a way to understand” the pain of her loss.
“These things that make you mad and crazy,” she said, “and it was my job — for my wife, for my kids, for me — to find a way to understand that he came into this life, he made choices, and it wasn’t up to me to save him. I couldn’t not save him, and just feeling that — feeling the loss — but also going, ‘I will not stop living for what I’m living for, even if I can’t call you anymore.’ So that was the song. I haven’t played it live yet. I don’t know if I can play it live yet, but it is a piece of meat. It was the first one, and I got it out of the way and was able to write the rest.”
Currently, the powerful opioid fentanyl is the leading cause of death for young people ages 18 to 45, causing more deaths per year than car accidents and cancer. As the country continues to grapple with the ongoing opioid pandemic, Etheridge has a message of hope for future generations.
“I’m hopeful. I don’t want to drown. I want to live and create and have joy,” she told Us. “There’s so much joy to be able to, you know, so much joy left — and I want them to see that, too. I want, even though there are sad moments in this album, that the tour, the concert, is uplifting and inspiring. Very much so.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
