[Executive producer] Ken Ehrlich said, Were doing a tribute to Janis Joplin.
Wed love you to sing Piece of my Heart.
My first thought was, Well, I dont want anyone else to sing it, you know?
Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Then the second thought was, Oh, Im going to be bald.
ETHERIDGE:Yeah, I was in bed every day.
:She could do the special dose because you werent working.
And so I realized, okay, I quit the chemo.
I knew Id be healthier.
I knew Id have some more energy.
I felt it was an opportunity for me to step back into what I loved to do.
I wanted to present myself as, Im back, Im not weak, this has made me stronger.
I just didnt want anyone to make fun of me.
And you went out there bald.
Were you scared about that?ETHERIDGE:I was.
I asked Rosie ODonnell.
She came to visit me and I said, What do you think?
She goes, Missy she always calls me Missy go bald, you should go bald.
I asked Steven Spielberg, actually.
Hes a good friend of mine.
He came and I said, Do you think I should put a scarf on?
He goes, No.
You walk out there proud.
And so after the Grammys I had an appointment with her.
I came and she went, Okay, I was wrong.
People dont stand up, theyre looking at their watches.
And I said, What do you mean?
He goes, I dont think theres going to be a problem with the audience.
Were you running on adrenaline?ETHERIDGE:Yeah.
The funny thing was, I had done the dress rehearsal earlier that day.
And thats the first time I did it with Joss, and Kris Kristofferson was there.
He went and sat in the audience, and Joss and I sang.
And he comes back onstage when I was done, and he was weeping.
What it actually did was force me to stay in one place.
That enabled the camera to come really close on me.
So it was actually a great performance for the camera.
Ive analyzed it because people have told me over and over, what a good performance.
Ive asked, why?
Because Im more subdued and then I let it all just blow in that last moment.
I went back home right after the performance.
And Linda actually called me like the next day and said, Do you see whats happening?
She goes, Honey, you made the news.
Oh my God, after you sang, everyone threw their wigs away.
There were bald people all over the place.
WALLEM:It was amazing.
It was the top news story in the world of news.
They had to look at their own thoughts and beliefs about everything.
