Melissa Etheridge has opened up about her relationship with the late David Crosby.
The rocker, 63, who dazzled in black at the CMT 2024 Music Awards, turned to the singer and songwriter as a sperm donor when she and her ex-partner Julie Cypher wanted to start a family.
Etheridge said Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, suggested it.
‘They had just had help having their son and they appreciated that. They wanted to pay it forward,’ the Grammy winner told People ahead of the release of the documentary series Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken.
‘The situation was special with my partner at the time because she had been adopted and she wanted her children to know who their biological father was,’ the Breathe artist explained.
Melissa Etheridge has opened up about her relationship with the late David Crosby, who died in January 2023, at 81. Crosby was the sperm donor who helped the singer become a mother
‘So we weren’t going to go to a sperm bank because she wanted them to know.’
Etheridge and Cypher share daughter Bailey, 27, and their late son Beckett, who passed away from an opioid overdose in May 2020 at age 21.
The singer described Crosby, who passed away in January 2023 at 81, was ‘perfect’ for the job of donor because ‘He did not need to be [a father].’
‘And that’s what really made it clear for me, was that he was willing to say, “Yeah, I was the biological father.” And my kids call him bio dad, so he’s the biological father, but they didn’t need a relationship with him,’ she explained.
The Similar Features singer said the service provided by Crosby and his wife ‘really taught taught me about generosity.’
She and Bailey have since discovered the folk-rock legend was generous with others as well.
‘We’re still finding kids from David Crosby out in the world. My daughter’s like, “I have another half-sister.”‘
Etheridge and Cypher broke up in September 2000, but continued to co-parent their children.
Etheridge said Crosby was ‘perfect’ as a sperm donor, and has since learned he was a donor for other families as well. ”We’re still finding kids’ she told People (They are pictured in 1995)
The singer said Crosby’s wife, Jan Dance, suggested the rock icon help her and former partner Julie Cypher have children. She explained Cypher was adopted and wanted their kids to know who their biological father was ; (L-R) Cypher, Etheridge, Crosby, and Jan
The Grammy winner shares daughter Bailey, now 27, and her late son Beckett with Cypher (The trio pictured with Melissa’s mom Edna in Los Angeles in May 2020)
The breast cancer survivor went on to have twins Johnnie and Miller, 17, with ex-partner Tammy Lynn Michaels. The former couple turned to a sperm donor to help them have the twins
The rocker has been happily married to actress, producer and writer Linda Wallem since 2014 (Pictured with Wallum and Bailey in New York in June 2019)
Of Beckett’s loss, the Piece of My Heart singer said, ‘I can look at my son’s death as a great loss, or I can look at it as his time here was a great time of living and learning,’ she told People in September 2023. ‘He’s taught me so much, and I find great comfort in him in the non-physical.’
The breast cancer survivor went on to have twins Johnnie and Miller, 17, with ex-partner Tammy Lynn Michaels. The former couple turned to a sperm donor to help them have the twins.
She has been happily married to actress, producer and writer Linda Wallem since 2014.
Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken will be released July 5, the accompanying docuseries debuts on Paramount+ July 9.
