Melissa Etheridge to headline tour beginning in June

Multi-platinum, Oscar and two-time Grammy Award winning Island Records artist Melissa Etheridge makes a timely summer return to the road for The Revival Tour 2008, her first major headlining North American tour in two years, opening June 15th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. The 48-city schedule, with several multiple night engagements along the way, works its way across the U.S. and Canada for 12 weeks, wrapping up September 9th at Midland Theatre in Kansas City. (Please see complete tour itinerary below.)

“I love to perform live, and I am on a new journey in my life,” Melissa says. “Put those two things together, and you have my Revival Tour. I’ll be playing the favorites along with album cuts and songs from The Awakening to tell my story. I hope you enjoy it.”

The Revival Tour 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of Melissa Etheridge’s self-titled RIAA multi-platinum debut album on Island in May 1988. One of rock’s most celebrated debuts, it contained her first four chart singles: “Bring Me Some Water,” “Like the Way I Do,” “Similar Features,” and “Chrome Plated Heart.” 19 years later, in September 2007, Melissa released her most recent (ninth) studio album, The Awakening, featuring “Message To Myself.” The concept album was ranked #20 by Rolling Stone magazine on its list of the 50 Top Albums of 2007.

2007 was a landmark year for Melissa Etheridge, beginning at the Academy Awards on February 25th, when “I Need To Wake Up” won the Oscar for Best Original Song, from Al Gore’s Academy Award winning documentary of 2006, An Inconvenient Truth. Three weeks before the Oscars, the song was issued commercially (for the first time) as a closing bonus track on the enhanced version of Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled, her 17- (now 18-) song RIAA gold career anthology, originally compiled and released in 2005.

In July 2007, Melissa Etheridge joined the all-star cast of participants at Live Earth, where she introduced Al Gore to the crowd at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Live Earth's emphasis on the perils of global warming underscored the continuing relevance of “I Need To Wake Up.” Melissa reprised the song at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, co-starring Earth, Wind & Fire, Annie Lennox, Alicia Keys and others, attended by Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, and broadcast to over 100 countries.

MELISSA ETHERIDGE: THE REVIVAL TOUR 2008
June
15 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
16 Orlando, FL Bob Carr Performing Arts Center
17 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park Amphitheatre
19 Jacksonville, FL The Florida Theatre
20 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amphitheatre
21 Louisville, KY Palace Theatre
24 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium
25 Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall
27 Wilkes-Barre, PA F.M. Kirby Center for Performing Arts
28 Albany, NY Palace Theatre
29 Danbury, CT Ives Concert Park

July
1-2 Hyannis, MA Cape Cod Melody Tent
4 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Events Center
5 Gilford, NH Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion
6 Newport, RI Newport Yachting Center
9-10 New York, NY WAMU Theater formerly the Theatre at MSG
11 Northampton, MA The Pines
13 Canandaigua, NY Constellation Brands Perf. Arts Center CMAC
15 Reading, PA Sovereign Performing Arts Center
16 Poughkeepsie, NY Mid Hudson Civic Center
18 -19 Lowell MA Lowell Memorial Auditorium
21 Montreal, Que. Salle Wilfred Pelletier Place des Arts
22 Ottawa, Ont. National Arts Center
23 Quebec City, Que. Grand Theatre de Quebec
25 Mashantucket, CT MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods
26 Shelburne, VT Ben and Jerry's Concerts on the Green at Shelburne Museum
28 Toronto, Ont. Massey Hall
30 Madison, WI Overture Center for the Arts
31 Indianapolis, IN Clowes Memorial Hall

Aug.
2 Columbus, OH Celeste Center at the Ohio State Fair
3 Detroit, MI Opera House
7-8 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
9 St. Paul, MN The O’Shaughnessey Auditorium
11 St. Louis, MO Fox Theatre
13 Austin, TX Paramount Theatre
14 Houston, TX Alice & George Brown Theatre
15 Dallas, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
17 Albuquerque, NM Sandia Casino Amphitheatre
18 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
20 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
22 Eugene, OR Cuthbert Amphitheatre
23 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
24 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre
26 Denver, CO Human Rights Campaign Event at the Fillmore
28 Oakland, CA Paramount Theatre
29 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
30 San Diego, CA Concerts In The Park (Alpine)

Sept.
9 Kansas City, MO Midland Theatre