Melissa Etheridge: RISE

Melissa Etheridge brings RISE to Pickering on March 28, 2026 at The Arena, 888 Durham Live Avenue. Singer, songwriter and guitarist born in Kansas, she made her mark at the turn of the 90s with a raspy voice, rock anchored in folk and blues, and lyrics that stay close to real life. After her 1988 self-titled debut came Brave and Crazy and Never Enough, then Yes I Am and Your Little Secret. The run continued with more intimate turns on Breakdown, Skin and Lucky, followed by The Awakening, Fearless Love, 4th Street Feeling and This Is M.E., a detour through classic soul on Memphis Rock and Soul, and later The Medicine Show and One Way Out. She also wrote I Need to Wake Up for the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and brought her story to Broadway with the autobiographical My Window in 2023.

On stage, Etheridge mixes storytelling with 12‑string drive and harmonica, moving across three decades of songs with the straight-ahead feel that defines her writing. RISE leans into that catalog and its themes—intimate, social, and lived-in—delivered by a voice and guitar sound that remain instantly recognizable at The Arena in Pickering on March 28, 2026.