Melissa Etheridge: RISE Comes to the Carolina Theatre on September 5

DURHAM, NC — April 1, 2026 — Melissa Etheridge: RISE comes to the Carolina Theatre of Durham on September 5, 2026. Tickets are now on sale at the venue’s box office and online at www.carolinatheatre.org. 

“I chose to survive,” Melissa Etheridge sings on “Being Alive,” the powerful, exuberant opening song of the Academy Award- and Grammy Award-winning artist’s 17th studio album, “Rise.” She then takes a pause, the flurry of her guitar and her bandmates’ boisterous sounds fading out, before she practically shouts with unbridled joy: “God I love being alive!”

The words say so much. But in that pause — just a few seconds long — it’s as if she’s reflecting on everything that has happened in her life since she last released an album of new material, 2019’s “The Medicine Show,” and all that is to come on this remarkable, emotional mosaic of songs.

Co-produced by Etheridge and Shooter Jennings, whose production credits include Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker, Charlie Crockett and his father, Waylon Jennings, and featuring her band of guitarist and keyboard player Max Hart, drummer Eric Gardner and bassist Erik Kertes, “Rise” soars as an intimate and richly realized collection.

At times it is celebratory and playful, as in the explosive “Don’t You Want a Woman,” chosen as the official rally song of the Kansas City Current professional women’s soccer team, and “Tomboy,” which reclaims the term as a badge of pride, both punctuated by Etheridge’s hearty laugh.

There is “Matches,” a frisky ode to the guitars that sparked her musical passion as a child, steeped in the spirit of childhood hero Johnny Cash. There is the honky-tonk “Davina,” its singalong chorus sounding as if it could have been recorded in a raucous saloon. And there is “If You Ever Leave Me,” which begins with Etheridge cruising down Melrose in the 1980s after first arriving in Los Angeles, but goes on to celebrate her marriage with Linda Wallem. “If you ever leave me, I’m coming too,” she sings, with another burst of laughter.

At other moments it is contemplative, most profoundly in “Call You,” her deeply affecting account of living in the wake of the opioid-related death of her son, Beckett, in 2021. In it she reflects deeply and finds strength in the embrace of family, friends and community. This sense of resilience also carries through “The Other Side of Blue,” a light-in-the-darkness anthem co-written and co-sung with Chris Stapleton. The album concludes with the warmth of “More Love,” written for and performed at her daughter Bailey’s wedding last fall.

Ultimately, it is an album of acceptance and resilience. As she sings in the title song:

You’re gonna fall to earth sometimes
You’re gonna taste the dirt sometimes
Then you’re gonna rise

The Etheridge Foundation works to help address the opioid crisis by funding research into plant-based medicines and therapies that aim to treat opioid dependence and support recovery. To learn more about the Etheridge Foundation, please click here. 

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About The Carolina Theatre of Durham: 

Carolina Theatre of Durham is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that manages the city-owned Carolina Theatre at 309 W. Morgan Street, Durham, NC 27701. The Carolina Theatre of Durham is dedicated to presenting vibrant, thought-provoking film and live performances that contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of downtown Durham and the Triangle Region. Visit carolinatheatre.org for more information. 

Contact: 
Hanna Mercer
Senior Director of Marketing, Carolina Theatre of Durham
(919) 560-3040 | hanna@carolinatheatre.org