Melissa Etheridge Shares the Secret to Her Marriage Success, Jokes Having the Same Birthday as Her Wife ‘Helps’ (Exclusive)
The Grammy winner opens up to PEOPLE in this week’s issue ahead of the release of her docuseries ‘Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken’
Few days are more special for Melissa Etheridge than May 29, 1961 — not only is it her birthday, but it’s the day her wife, Linda Wallem, was born, too.
“I can tell you it helps. It helps a lot,” Etheridge, 63, jokes to PEOPLE in this week’s issue of sharing a birthday with her partner. “We’re Gemini, so we just think we’re the coolest. We just have a lot of fun.”
Though the Grammy-winning singer and Wallem, a TV producer, celebrated their 10th anniversary in May, finding a happily ever after was a difficult journey for the star, who on Tuesday, July 9 will release her docuseries Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken on Paramount+.
“[Linda and I are] so supportive of each other. It’s the best relationship I’ve had in my whole life,” Etheridge says. “After my second breakup, I had four kids and was like, ‘I’m obviously horrible at picking partners. I’m not going to do this anymore.’”
The star split from wife Tammy Lynn Michaels in 2010 after seven years together and two children, twins Johnnie and Miller, 17. Etheridge is also mom to daughter Bailey, 27, and son Beckett, who died in 2020 at age 21, with former partner Julie Cypher.
But she and Wallem had a solid foundation, and a friendship of nearly a decade to lean on. When they both found themselves single at the same time, Etheridge feared messing up their bond by getting romantically involved.
Still, she invited Wallem to live in her home, and for months, the Nurse Jackie co-creator helped the singer take her children to school and make the kids lunch. Before long, the two realized they were essentially living as a married couple.
“I had so much fun with her as a person. We were able to slowly step into it, and it was so perfect,” Etheridge says now. “Life is not just second chances — life is always chances. There’s no, “Well, that’s just the way it is.” We can always make a different choice.”
