Amidst the ugly sweater parties and Christmas cookies, Shippensburg community members can have a rock’n holiday season with Melissa Etheridge’s Holiday Trio tomorrow.
Etheridge will be performing Christmas songs from her 2008 album “A New Thought for Christmas” at 8 p.m. for the very first time in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center. The show includes songs like “Merry Christmas Baby,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “O Night Divine.”
Shippensburg is one of Etheridge’s first stops for this special seasonal tour. She will be performing with two other members from her band.
In 1993, Etheridge won a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance with her song “Ain’t It Heavy.” Two years later she won the same award, this time with “Come To My Window” from her album “Yes I Am.” “Yes I Am” was on the album charts for more than two and a half years and won platinum six times.
Though Etheridge has not won another Grammy since then, she has released 13 more albums and won an Oscar in 2007 for Best Original Song with “I Need To Wake Up.” The 55 year old’s most recent album is “MEmphis Rock and Soul,” which came out last October.
This past summer, Etheridge released “Pulse,” a reaction song about the mass shootings in Orlando, Florida. She told Rolling Stone magazine that it was her way of coping and trying to make sense of the event.
The chorus reads, “I am human, I am love/ And my heart beats with my blood/ Love will always win/ Underneath the skin/ Everybody’s got a pulse.”
All proceeds from “Pulse” went toward Equality Florida, the state’s largest LGBT rights organization.
Another cause Etheridge is passionate about is raising awareness for cancer. In 2005, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, more than a decade later, she lives entirely changed.
“I am the healthiest I have ever been in my life,” she told ABC News. “It excites me every day when I can wake up and feel energy and feel good and feel purpose.”
Etheridge shared her opinions on cancer and health overall in a 2010 documentary called “1 A Minute,” which represents how frequently women die of breast cancer. The singer is often used as a celebrity endorsement for the Relay for Life cancer walks with her song “I Run For Life.”
Tickets for Etheridge’s holiday performance start at $49 and can be purchased online at www.luhrscenter.com or at the box office.
The Slate welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.