Melissa Etheridge is talking about the death of her 21-year-old son, Beckett Cypher, who died on May 13 of a drug overdose.
Speaking Tuesday morning on “Good Morning America” in her first live television interview since her son’s death, she shared about how she has coped with the tragic loss.
“Time heals. It’s only been a couple of months, but I’ve been very busy and I got really busy,” Etheridge told host Robin Roberts. “You go one day at a time. Overcome the pain and heal.”
The Grammy-winning singer shared that she “can’t help but feel responsible” for her son, who had first been introduced to pain relievers after breaking his ankle during a snowboarding accident. But she shared that, as a mother, she did “everything she could.”
Beckett Cypher: Melissa Etheridge’s daughter pays tribute to her brother, dead of opioid addiction at age 21
“You do everything you can because you’re a parent. He made these decisions and was a young adult. I couldn’t save him, only he could save him.”
She then described her son as one with “an incredible sense of humor” who was “also very sensitive to people, to life, to injustice in life.”
“He was feeling very intensely about everything, and you know, in the past few months, he became someone he didn’t know. Drugs make you that.”
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The singer-songwriter now steps forward to honor her son’s life by raising awareness of the dangers of drug addiction and by funding research programs through the Etheridge Foundation. She attributes her healing to music.
“There is something about singing, something about opening the soul, it has helped me get through everything,” Etheridge said. “Many people throughout my life said, ‘Your music helped me get through this, your music helped me get through that.’ And now I’m using my music to get through this.”
If you or someone you know has addiction problems, call the National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
