6. Melissa EtheridgeS/T

First of all there’s a certain note she hits that cuts right through you like a knife, and she knows it and she uses it. But I also love her use of words. I remember one song she sings "I see you with your best friends, you wear them well". That’s clever. I was a big fan as soon as I heard her, and I didn’t realise that she was a big fan too. I saw her doing an interview in Australia and she mentioned me and I thought well, there you go, what goes around comes around! I didn’t know that, you know. But dare I say, there are elements of me in what she does. Not copying, but elements of things that I was able to start happening, and we’ve all got to learn. As you’re coming up and you’re becoming who you’re going to become, we look at everybody. All artists do. And you should take inspiration from wherever you can get it. I certainly did.