Melissa Etheridge spoke out about her 21-year-old son Beckett’s death on Wednesday, May 13, after her team announced his passing earlier in the day.
“Today I joined the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction,” Etheridge, 58, wrote in a statement via Twitter. “My son Beckett, who was just 21, struggled to overcome his addiction and finally succumbed to it today.”
The “Come to My Window” singer, who shared Beckett with her ex Julie Cypher, opened up about her son’s battle with substance abuse to her followers.
“He will be missed by those who loved him, his family and friends,” she continued. “My heart is broken.”
The Kansas native revealed that she’s “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,” Etheridge added. “I will sing again, soon. It has always healed me.”
Etheridge’s team announced Beckett’s passing on Wednesday via Twitter, writing, “We’re sad to inform you that Melissa’s son Beckett passed away and there will not be a Concerts From Home show today. – #TeamME.”
The “I’m the Only One” singer told Yahoo in April 2017 that she smoked weed with her two eldest children, Bailey Jean, 23, and Beckett, in the past, after using it recreationally and as a medical aid while fighting breast cancer in 2004.
“It was strange,” Etheridge said during Yahoo’s Weed & the American Family special. “It was funny at first, and then they realized it’s very natural [at the] end of the day. It brings you closer. I’d much rather have a smoke with my grown kids than a drink.”
Etheridge and Cypher, 55, who called it quits in 2000 after 10 years together, share Beckett and Bailey Jean. Both of their children are the biological kids of musician David Crosby.
The “Like the Way I Do” artist is the mother to two other kids, 13-year-old twins Miller and Johnnie, whom she shares with ex Tammy Lynn Michaels. The pair were married for seven years before splitting in 2010.
