This Mother’s Day, let’s salute some of great women of music who had breast cancer.
Melissa Etheridge made quite a splash at the 2005 Grammys—her first public appearance after her battle against breast cancer. With a bald head and heavy eyeliner, the out rocker joined Joss Stone for a tribute to Janis Joplin with the medley of “Cry Baby” and “Piece of My Heart.” Etheridge stole the show and added new meaning to the lines, “but I’m gonna show you, baby, a woman can be tough” and “each time I tell myself that I, well I can’t stand the pain, but when you hold me in your arms, I’ll sing it once again.” A studio version of “Piece of My Heart” appears on Etheridge’s retrospective Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled. Etheridge’s Live and Alone 2009 Tour comes to Chicagoland on Thursday, June 18, at The Venue, 777 Casino Center, Hammond, Ind.
Her career spans five decades. Her memoirs spill over into two books. Marianne Faithfull details her medical woes with breast cancer and hepatitis C in Memories, Dreams and Reflections. In her previous book, Faithfull, the husky-voiced songbird recounts her life, including experimenting with bisexuality and heroin addiction. Faithfull follows up the album Before the Poison, a collaboration with Nick Cave and PJ Harvey, with the new recording Easy Come, Easy Go. Here, she interprets a handpicked selection including Dolly Parton’s “Down from Dover” and Morrissey’s “Dear God, Please Help Me.” An assortment of guests makes cameos, including queer crooners Rufus Wainwright on “Children of Stone” and Antony Hegarty on “Ooh Baby Baby.” She has a knack for covers; her version of “Gloomy Sunday” is one of the best versions out there. Even Faithfull’s catalog has been remade. The British dance act Sunscreem did a take of her 1979 comeback single “Broken English.”
In 2003, Anastacia came out with having been diagnosed with breast cancer. The “I’m Outta Love” singer put her tribulations into the hits “Left Outside Alone” and “Sick and Tired” on her next effort. The self-titled set’s fourth single, “Heavy on My Heart,” benefited the newly established Anastacia Fund, which raises awareness of breast cancer to women under 35. In 2007, she joined an army of divas for Annie Lennox’s “Sing,” which helps raise funds for the African AIDS epidemic. I remember first hearing the Chicago-born Anastacia on David Morales and the Badyard Club’s house classic house album The Program, singing on “Forever Luv.”
Amid her Showgirl: Greatest Hits Tour, Kylie Minogue found out she had breast cancer. The Australian pop princess reemerged after chemotherapy with short hair and more curves. Instead of returning to the darker place she found herself while recording the underrated masterpiece Impossible Princess, Minogue released the ultimate feel-good electro album, X. Only closing track “Cosmic” hints to her recent struggles. The remix collection, Boombox, followed earlier this year. Minogue has already been to the studio to begin recording a successor to X.
To those who do not think they are in need of a history lesson, some of music’s finest voices have been silenced because of breast cancer. And these women’s contributions are still relevant into today’s pop culture.
Chicago-born Minnie Riperton and her five-and-a-half octave range were gone too soon, once she succumbed to cancer in 1979. Best known for her 1975 chart topper “Lovin’ You,” Riperton’s gifts have carried on to the sounds of the next generation, as heard on Mariah Carey’s early material. “Lovin’ You” still surfaces in commercials, TV shows like South Park and in movies like Disturbia. Riperton’s daughter is Maya Rudolph, a Saturday Night Live alumna who appeared in Prop 8: The Musical.
In the ’60s, nobody did blue-eyed soul quite like Dusty Springfield. The lesbian icon returned to the limelight pairing with the Pet Shop Boys on the 1987 hit “What Have I Done to Deserve This.” Then her gem “Son of a Preacher Man” was featured in Pulp Fiction. Last year Shelby Lynne paid Springfield the ultimate homage with Just a Little Lovin’. Here, Lynne strips down Springfield’s classics like “Breakfast in Bed” and “The Look of Love” by adding her own twist on these beloved favorites. Two films on Springfield are rumored to be in development.
When George Michael remakes three of your signature tunes, then you know you have reached a certain godlike status. Such is the case with the late Nina Simone. On “Wild Is the Wind” and “Feeling Good,” Michael eases up on the big finish Simone is known for. The music legacy left behind by the High Priestess of Soul is magnificent. The activist’s style can be heard in Antony Hegarty’s vocal delivery. Her work has been licensed to commercials, become the focal point for sampling and been remixed multiple times. Even American Idol contestants like Adam Lambert have reached into Simone’s songbook. In 2008 her daughter did the tribute album Simone on Simone, which shines brightest during the big-band numbers “Gal from Joe’s” and “Love Me or Leave Me.” The box set To Be Free is out now. Mary J. Blige is slated to portray Simone in a forthcoming biopic.