Melissa Etheridge's 4 Children: All About Bailey, Beckett, Johnnie and Miller

Musician Melissa Etheridge has been a trailblazer throughout her career, not only for her signature blues-infused rock, but also for her gay rights activism and the way she raises her blended family.

She had a daughter, Bailey Jean, and a son, Beckett, with ex Julie Cypher in the late 90s. In 2006, she and her then-partner Tammy Lynn Michaels gave birth to twins Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven. The singer has been married to his wife Linda Walla since 2014.

“My kids are my priority,” Etheridge told PEOPLE in 2017. “I love my kids. They are the four most wonderful human beings in the world. I live a very blessed life.”

Etheridge lost her oldest son, Beckett, then 21, to an opioid overdose in 2020. In 2023, she published a book, Talking to my angels, about struggling with that loss and her struggle to “choose love” and move forward.

“I can look at my son’s death as a great loss or I can look at it as the time he spent here was a great time of living and learning,” she told PEOPLE in September 2023. “He taught me so much and I great comfort in him in the non-physical.”

“I’ve experienced enough to know that I’ve always lived very truthfully, and I’ve always told people what was going on with me, from dating to cancer, and I really felt a lot of power in being honest and open,” the musician added. “I knew that this was no exception, that this was something that I wanted to share with those who wanted to know how I got through the death of my son and how I still, every day, have a bright outlook. It’s not easy.”

Keep reading to find out all about Melissa Etheridge’s four children.

Bailey Jean Cypheridge, 27

Bailey Cypheridge.

Bailey Cypheridge’s Instagram

Melissa’s first child, daughter Bailey, was born on February 10, 1997. She and her younger brother Beckett, born the following year, were both conceived with the help of musician David Crosby. After the children were born, Etheridge, Julie Cypher, Crosby and his wife, Jan, shared the story of the family’s journey in the issue Rolling Stone and then further Larry King live.

Cypher explained further Larry King live that two couples were on vacation in Hawaii when they created their family plan. “We pulled up to where they were staying, and we were walking out on the back porch, and their eight-month-old son was there, sleeping on Jan’s chest,” she said. “We were talking about having kids and how we were going to do it, and it just came out of Jana’s mouth. She’s the one who offered David. She said, ‘What about David?’ ”

The two couples weren’t particularly close at the time, but they grew closer through their unique family bond. “Melissa and Julie are good people,” Crosby said Rolling Stone 2000. “A good set of values, they’re funnier than s—, and they have guts. Those are all rare things. You could tell they were in love with each other.”

Crosby – known by the children as “Croz” – remained in contact with Bailey and her brother, although not in a parental role, until his death in January 2023.

“He was always a very cool presence in my life, even though we never intended to have that parent-child relationship. He was friends with my parents, he was their donor for me. I thought it was great growing up, knowing who he was.” , Bailey told PEOPLE at the time.

Melissa Etheridge and Bailey Cypheridge.

Bailey Cypheridge’s Instagram

In May 2023, Bailey told PEOPLE how she was living with the loss of her brother and biological father. “I try to listen to what their reaction might be in their head if I’m trying to make an important decision,” she said, adding that “loss and grief are really hard.”

“I don’t think anyone has a clear way to deal with it,” Bailey added. “I’m trying to focus on the good memories, I’m trying to realize that feeling that a loss so deep means you loved something so deeply.”

Bailey appeared on the show A family heirloom about people who grew up as children of famous musicians. “As a child, I knew I had two parents who loved and wanted me, and that’s a lot more than a lot of people can say,” she told PEOPLE. “I actually remember, when I was in kindergarten, I was bragging about having two moms because I thought it was a good thing. I still think it’s the coolest thing.”

“As I grew up, it meant more and more to me how pioneers my parents were and how hard it must have been for them at that time. For my mom to stay true to herself and stay away even when so many people told her she would have had a more successful career if you say in the closet,” she added. “I think it’s really brave that it was never a question for my mom. It means a lot more to me now, looking back as an adult, because I’m a queer adult myself, so I can look at that and think they really were a path for so much people, including me.”

He carries this inspiration in his career as well. After graduating from Columbia University and the London School of Business, Bailey works at GLAAD as a project manager, according to her LinkedIn.

In June 2024, Bailey announced her engagement to partner Jocelyn Simone. “I am the luckiest girl in the world. Yours forever,” she wrote on Instagram.

Beckett Cypheridge

Melissa Etheridge and Beckett

Etheridge’s second child and first son, Beckett, was born on November 18, 1998. After his birth, Etheridge spoke with Parents about raising small children. “There is nothing like taking responsibility or creating responsibility for bringing a human being into this world and helping them in their first years,” she said. “It’s not the equation that gets you there or what you are to that person. It doesn’t matter at all. It’s the bond between you and the child.”

In 2008, Etheridge spoke with The Daily Beast about how she couldn’t adopt children because the state of California refused to allow same-sex adoptions. “He, being 9 years old and very proud of his reading skills, read ‘Amends the California Constitution to Eliminate the Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry,'” she said. “He looked at me, very seriously, and said, ‘Wow, that’s pathetic.’ ”

In 2016, when he was 17, Beckett was training to become a professional snowboarder in Colorado when he broke his ankle and subsequently developed an addiction to painkillers prescribed during his recovery. “It caused him a lot of pain. It stopped him from being a professional snowboarder,” Etheridge told PEOPLE in 2021. “He was on that path, and that’s when he got lost — because if he wasn’t going to do it, what was he going to do? ”

Eventually he started using heroin and fentanyl. Etheridge sent him to rehab, but he left at 18. “The drug abuse really turned him into someone I didn’t know,” she said. “He was quicker to get angry or mistrustful. He stole my money. The last couple of weeks he was paranoid and suddenly got into guns. It’s sad because he wasn’t who he was before.”

Beckett Cypheridge and Bailey Cypheridge.

Bailey Cypheridge’s Instagram

On May 13, 2020, Beckett died of an opioid overdose at the age of 21. “Today I joined the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction,” Etheridge told PEOPLE in a statement at the time. “My son Beckett, who was only 21 years old, fought to overcome his addiction and finally succumbed to it today. He will be missed by those who loved him, his family and friends.”

Two months after Beckett’s death, Etheridge spoke with Good morning America about coping with loss through music. “There’s something about singing, something about opening the soul, that got me through everything,” she said. “So many people throughout my life have said, ‘Your music got me through this, your music got me through that.’ And now I’m using my music to get through this.”

In response to his death, Etheridge launched The Etheridge Foundation, which researches the causes and treatments of opioid addiction. “This is an epidemic. We lose over 150,000 people a year to opioid addiction,” she said on Today with Hoda and Jenna in September 2020 “One thing that helped me heal was starting the Etheridge Foundation. We’re starting it right now and it’s expanding and it’s a foundation for research into alternatives. To get off this pain medication rut. It’s research to understand addiction .”

Johnnie Rose and Miller Steven Etheridge, 18

Johnnie Rose Etheridge and Steven Etheridge as young children.

Bailey Cypheridge’s Instagram

On October 17, 2006, Melissa welcomed fraternal twins Johnnie and Miller with then-partner Michaels. Michaels carried the children, who were conceived through an anonymous donor.

When the twins were 11 months old, Etheridge spoke to PEOPLE about their unique bond. “They have their own language, they are more content to be with each other,” she said. “With twins, it’s like you’re in their life.”

However, Johnnie and Miller showed different personalities early on. “You can put the same thing in front of both [the twins] and will do completely different things,” she added. “He’ll see if he can break it, if he can throw it, and she’ll think about it, see how she can manipulate him.”

The twins’ parents separated in 2010, and Etheridge married her now-husband Wallem. Although their childhood was largely kept out of the limelight, the twins occasionally appeared on older sister Bailey’s Instagram account.

“Very happy sisters,” Bailey captioned a photo of her and Johnnie Rose on vacation in Hawaii in 2019.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the SAMHSA Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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Source: HIS Education