Melissa Etheridge performs in 'Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis', airing next Saturday night at 7 on NBC.

If your name is Al Gore and you're trying to get the word out on global warming, Melissa Etheridge is a good friend to have.

Now the owner of an Oscar for I Need to Wake Up - which she composed for the former vice president's 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth - the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter is among many artistes slated for the Gore-initiated worldwide event Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis Saturday, July 7.

One of the stars who will be onstage at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Etheridge may have been the first celebrity to learn of Live Earth from Gore.

"We were at a cocktail party or something for An Inconvenient Truth," she recalls, "and on my way out, he leaned over and said, 'I'm gonna do a big thing on 7/7/07, a big concert on seven continents. Do you want to do it?' I was like, 'Do I want to do it? I'm there!'"

Rekindled hope

Indeed, Etheridge claims Gore's unyielding concern for the environment "actually has rekindled my hope for America and the world, to see one man so beaten down by our mistakes and our apathy hold onto his core belief that leadership can take us into a better future, and keep our world from imploding.

"When I visited him in the White House in 1994, one whole side of his office was a huge picture of the Earth. It's been his passion forever, and to see it become that movie and then spark a flame in the world, I start thinking anything is possible."

Handled by the same producers who mounted the Live 8 concert two years ago, Live Earth also will originate from London, Tokyo, Sydney, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg and Istanbul. Among other stars set to perform are Madonna, the Police, Sheryl Crow, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith Hill, John Mayer, Shakira, Kanye West, Black Eyed Peas, Enrique Iglesias and Fall Out Boy.

Etheridge is proud of the entertainment community's response to, and participation in, Gore's activism. "(He's) the man who has gone the million miles, knows the scientists and knows the research and presents it in a clear-cut way. It's better for us to point to him and say, 'Now he'll tell you a few facts.' I can sing a song about it or others can do a television show about it, but he's got the facts. It gives us a place to focus all of our energies."

Environmental fears

Still, Etheridge's own environmental fears predate her connection to Gore. "We started to become aware of this in the 1970s," she says, "especially those of us in Southern California. I remember buying recyclable diapers for my first kids, really putting thought into it back then. It got hard for a while because it seemed like nobody cared. It's really nice this year to go, 'Whew ... OK. Now we're back on track.'

"The whole aim of July 7," Etheridge adds, "is to focus thought and intention on the issue that everything we do, no matter what country we're in, affects everyone else. America has to stop pretending we have an outhouse where we can just throw our (stuff) and that's OK. I hope this gives a sense of one world to everyone, to feel what it's like to concentrate on one thing for one time. That should be very powerful. It's what we do best as humans, I think."

Winning an Academy Award in February "was really one of those 'Yippee!' crazy-perfect nights," recalls Etheridge, who was enlisted for An Inconvenient Truth by Gore himself. "He called after I was on the 2005 Grammys (following Etheridge's successful treatment for breast cancer). I was involved with Clinton-Gore, then with his own presidential campaign, so he'd been an acquaintance. He was very complimentary, then he called again a few weeks later and said, 'Hey, I've got this slide show I'm doing. Do you want to come see it?' I said, 'Hmm. Well, sure, alright.'

"When I got in there and realised what he was doing, especially when he got on the cherry picker and showed where we'd be in 50 years if we keep on the same way, I was blown away. Afterward, he said, 'We filmed that,and I'd like you to write a song for it.' "

That was easier asked than done, Etheridge admits. "I came back and thought, 'A song about global warming? Ehhhh.' You know, 'Give a hoot, don't pollute' was already taken. I wrestled with it for quite a while, because you could get very cerebral or judgemental and turn people away by being too preachy. I just wanted to get back to what I do best, which is to talk about what I'm feeling. That's what I feel I did: 'I've really been asleep here, and the time is upon us. We can't wait anymore.' "

As for her other plans, Etheridge has just completed her ninth album of original material, The Awakening, for release in September, and she intends to tour in support of it. For now, she marvels at the magnitude to which Live Earth has grown. With the massive logistics involved, she's eager to see how it comes off.

"We'll see if it does," she says. "I have great hope for it."

- Jay Bobbin, Zap2it