Melissa Etheridge’s Son, Beckett, Dies at 21

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Beckett Cypher, the son of Melissa Etheridge and her ex-partner, Julie Cypher, died today (May 13) of a drug overdose at 21. His biological father was David Crosby, as is a sibling, Bailey. In a post on her Facebook page and other social media accounts, Etheridge wrote, “Today I joined the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction.”

Etheridge’s complete statement: Today I joined the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction. My son Beckett, who was just 21, struggled to overcome his addiction and finally succumbed to it today. He will be missed by those who loved him, his family and friends.

My heart is broken. I am grateful for those who have reached out with condolences and I feel their love and sincere grief.

We struggle with what else we could have done to save him, and in the end we know he is out of the pain now.

I will sing again, soon. It has always healed me.
– Melissa

At around 6 p.m. ET, Crosby retweeted a story about Beckett’s death. He also responded – albeit briefly – to a claim on Twitter which had noted that “[Beckett] was Melissa and Julie’s child. They raised him. Like most donors, he played no other part. Crosby replied simply, “Not true.”

In a 2014 interview, Crosby said, “Melissa had been my friend already. I like her. A: She’s a rocker. And B: She’s very brave.” He told of her and Cypher’s visit years earlier when they saw his son and asked, “How do you get one of those?”

Etheridge told Crosby that people didn’t want to let them adopt. In the interview, Crosby said it was his wife, Jan, “pointed at me. Melissa looked at Julie. They looked at me. I looked at them. We all looked at Jan.

“It was a pure thought. It was a generosity based on love and respect for good human beings.”

Since the release of her self-titled 1988 debut, Etheridge’s career to date includes sales of over 25 million albums, 15 Grammy Award nominations and two wins, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an Academy Award for “I Need to Wake Up” from the climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

Related: Etheridge received a prominent award in 2018

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6 Comments so far

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  1. Felix
    #1 Felix 14 May, 2020, 01:18

    Sorry this happened but when you don’t have a strong parental figure in your life shit like this happens

    Reply this comment
    • Danny
      Danny 14 May, 2020, 11:26

      What an awful assumption you don’t know about them at all. A product of this decade. Shame on you for writing this.

      Reply this comment
    • Gagdad Bob
      Gagdad Bob 14 May, 2020, 19:43

      “Let’s bring a fatherless child into the world with David Crosby’s DNA. What could go wrong?”

      Reply this comment
    • Rebel67
      Rebel67 15 May, 2020, 00:05

      Wow Felix, that was ballsy to say!! I know of people that had both mother and father and still f”ing died because of an overdose. Don’t judge til you know the story Skippy!!

      Reply this comment
    • Wire Dawg
      Wire Dawg 15 May, 2020, 10:35

      Felix,
      Ain’t it Ashame that Ignorance abounds!

      Reply this comment
  2. Shiloh Noone
    #2 Shiloh Noone 14 May, 2020, 06:44

    As a rocker I feel for addicts and the loss of Melissa’s son, not sure if she has other children , but I understand this world is an unpredictable flying saucer and not all can fall into that spin, that being said shalom and comfort to his siblings, may Jesus shine his light upon her during the quiet times

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