Making it in country music wasn't an easy route for Melissa Etheridge. Granted, she was born in Kansas - an area which I naturally sympathetic to that kind of sound - but she had to make her way up through the scene by playing in country clubs within the state. At the time, those country clubs were all-male, and weren't always the most welcoming environment for a young woman.
Etheridge was something of a pioneer for gay women in country music - she came out in 1993, during a time when society was less open to gay women as it is now. The public accepted her. Her next album, cheekily entitled 'Yes, I Am,' was a major breakthrough commercial success. Known for her distinctive smoky voice, she's gone on to win two Grammy Awards and an Oscar for her music, as well as her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.