wait till you hear his story. this is "piers morgan tonight. you only have to hear melissa etheridge's voice once and you'll never forget her. also known for being outspoken on all kinds of issues close to her heart. welcome. >> nice to be here. >> you're a kind of fiery soulful character, aren't you, on and often stage? >> i'm just trying to live this interesting life we all have in front of us. just making some choices. >> when you look at your extraordinary life professional and personal, how do you feel now about where you've arrived, where you are right now? >> i think at this point, i'm 51 now, i've realized, oh, it's just a journey. you never get there. you never get it done. it's all about how you're doing it. >> that is so true. >> i mean, really. >> you're never actually going to arrive, are you? >> no. >> this train never gets to a station. >> it does not. there is no there "there." for myself, i've achieved some of those markers that you think, oh, the oscar, those things. each time, i go, there's no there here. that's nice, that's great. it's about how am i doing. and how's this journey. >> what's been the best pit stop on your journey so far? the moment you would relive? can't be children or the women in your life. >> no. i don't want to relive that. >> got to be something else. >> no, it's been great. on stage with bruce springsteen. >> really? when was that? >> that was 1994 unplugged, mtv. they said, do you want to duet with anyone? i said, i've always wanted to sing with bruce. he said yes. it was one of those, god, if i could stop time right now. >> as the doorp s and out comes the bossacoustic. >> it's him and i singing "thunder road." >> wow. >> yeah, wow. i wanted it to stop. >> it was as good as you always hoped? >> yes. looking back on it. in the moment, moments are funny. in the now, you have to learn to love when you're going through it. looki ing back at it, oh, yes, absolutely. >> about love and romance after this. you write about it all the time. >> oh, no. ♪ just to reach you ♪ come to my window ♪ crawl inside ♪ wait by the light of the moon ♪ ♪ come to my window ♪ i'll be home soon >> see, that to me is -- that is american music at its best. that's the kind of music you want to get your little chevy, get on the, i don't know, the pacific coast highway, get the shades on, ramp up the etheridge, doesn't it? >> yes, yes. i write songs for people who drive in cars. i really do. >> you are right to do that. a lot of people spend time in cars listening to music. >> that's when i want to help them get from point a to point b. >> i normally leave it to the end when they're all warmed up. >> i'm pretty warm. >> i normally look at them in the eye and say, come on, how many times have you been properly in love. you sing about love and heart break and agony and torment. the joys and the despair of love and romance. come on, come on, you great love writer, singer, you. >> love, love. >> how many times have you been properly in love. >> how many times have i thought i was in love. >> that doesn't count. >> okay. properly in love. >> yes. >> i love the way you english say this. like there's anything proper about income lobeing in love. i am for the first time properly in love because i am now in love with myself. and that is the only way i could be properly in love with someone else. >> so before you felt you've been in love but you haven't been able to give that person the whole you. >> myself was -- i felt, oh, they'll fill this up. if i have that person, i can fill this up. and you can't. and they can't. we're living two different realities. everyone is. and so to think that -- to think that adding someone to you is going to make you whole, you're in for a big drop. so now that i understand it's about loving myself, that the only way i can be in a good relationship is to love myself, to work on myself, to be t best me for my children, for my partner, that's being in love. then you can off love to someone else. >> have you cracked it then? have you cracked the holy grail of love now? >> have i cracked the holy grail of love? >> terribly cheesy phrase. >> it is, but i'm trying -- >> you know what i mean. >> a good, you know, king arthur reference back to you and i can't quite. guinevere is out there. even then we know -- again, maybe. it's a journey. there's no getting it done. >> my theory about singer/song writers is that you basically have to go through all the misery to write great songs. all your best work, unless i'm wrong, basically, the negative stuff -- because it's when you're the most searing, isn't it? >> depends on how you look at it. even my most searing, "i'm the only one," it's still -- there's -- i've tried never to be, oh, you just killed me and i can't go on. i've tried to be, oh that really makes me angry, you doing that. but i'm better, nobody loves you like the way i do -- >> can you write good stuff if you're really happy? >> yeah. >> can you? >> yes. >> doesn't it become like inevitably quite schmultzy? >> am i writing about being happy? there's still a shadow side to me. >> from a purely professional point of view, from the artistry of your song writing, if i said write, you can be in this kind of exespin chul state of pure bliss or torment, which would produce the better music, the better songs? >> as you ask me that, this state of bliss you're talking about cannot exist without the other side, without the darker side. >> no, but i have the power to give you just bliss or misery. >> i don't want just bliss. >> you know what i'm getting at. >> okay, okay. >> what would produce the better songs? >> the contrast of misery of course is going to -- it's the contrast. it's the desire to be out of that. into the bliss. >> bob dylan would have been absolutely hopeless if he hadn't been basically pissed off all the time. >> angry. >> i'm right. >> yes, yes. >> i know you like your politics. you've been very vocal. it's been a big year for the gay and lesbian community in america. are you happy with the speed of the advances and the rights that have now been estowed down? you still think, you know what, a lot of talk, not enough action? >> having been on the journey of getting towards gay and lesbian rights, equality, understanding diversity in america, 20 years ago, started, no, i was hoping in 10 years it would all -- we'd all feel comfortable about it. this is deep-seated fear that comes. religion and all kinds of things involved. so this change, this change of paradigm of understanding, love, relationship, family, society, takes time. are we moving in that direction? absolutely. >> you grew up in kansas. i know where i grew up, gay was a bad word. ignorance and fear ruled the day. there were so many themselves back then. the blacks, the poor. then there was the immigrants. them. now the "them" is me. it was a very poignant way of putting it. do you feel the "them" that is you and those who are like you are in a much better position now that you have a president prepared to go on television and say i support? >> absolutely. i do think that was a big tipping point in this movement. in the movement toward equality and the recognition of diversity. it's very important to be able to say my president said he's for it. actually having it be enacted at a federal level, that's a ways off. >> when you go back to kansas, is it better there? reality? is there more tolerance? >> tolerance? i don't even like to use the word "tolerance." >> what's the right word? >> because it sounds like i'm doing something you have to tolerate. >> yes. >> diversity. recognizing that there is no "us" and "them." you can divide us up any way between anything. sexually, color, religion. we're all different. >> but you feel it's getting better? places like kansas? >> especially kansas. i came from the kansas in the '60s which was the middle of the civil rights movement. and kansas was always that neutral -- even in the civil war, was that neutral state where we're not south, we're not north. they've held that. good hard-working people that want to do unto others. they understand what that means. >> we're facing an election coming up in november. you have actually performed at the democratic convention in 20 2008. barack obama's facing one hell of a fight many people assume in november. what do you think of his record in the last four years? and what do you think of the potential prospect of a mitt romney presidency? >> okay. my politics have evolved. from very similar actually to the "us" and "them" we're talking about. i think it has done us more harm believing in the huge differences between left and right, democrat and republican, and that there definitely is differences socially. now i'm a little skeptical having seen the last 20 years of democrat, republican. they're still moving the same multinational corporation agenda forward. so i have a -- i'm starting to go wait a minute, i think there needs to be a little alternative. i'm starting to get really progressive here. whether it's democrat or republican. so socially of course i would love to see the democratic party still controlling these issues moving forward. physically, i think it's the same thing. that's what i'm thinking. >> it's quite depressing. >> i know. >> you feel depressed even as you say that? >> not depressed but again it feels like i actually feel what a lot of people are feeling. i'm really tired of of ththis u them. it only makes us -- when we all really want the same thing. we want lower taxes. we want better system. better schools. we want strong businesses. and to divide ourselves like this is just hurting us. we've got to learn to get together on this. or we're just -- we're sunk. >> i could not agree more. let's take a break. come back. i want to talk about music obviously. i've been handed this exotic thing. very cool. and also i want to talk to you about your extraordinary battle with dance cancer. the whole period had on your life. mom: ready to go to work? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ every mom needs a little helper. that's why i got a subaru. announcer: love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. ♪ so here's to me yeah ♪ let's raise a cup ♪ i'm fancy free ♪ and i've fallen fallen ♪ hey hey hey ♪ i've fallen up now "i've fallen up." the first single from her new album. tell me about this album. i'm reading a direct quote here. i believed in myself more in this album than i ever have before now. it's your 14th album. is that linked to what you said to me? that basically you've learned to love yourself? >> yes, it's my 12th album. >> 12th, i do apologize. >> it's all right. >> 12th, 14th. ton of albums. >> my fans would write to you if i didn't say at. yes. this came from a place of, oh, i had gone to england, where i hadn't been in, you know, 20 years in some of these places, and they were still listening to my music, loving my music. i went, wait a minute, why am i getting down on myself? why don't i believe in myself the way the audience, my fans do? made songs that i wanted to play live and really didn't think about anything else. >> i once interviewed andrew lloyd webber and he told me that he came up with the music to "memory" i think it was whilst buying tomatoes at his spanish grocery store. and i was, like, is that really how this happens to you musical geniuses? do you get this? do you literally -- just random places suddenly hear some incredible melody -- >> there's one right there. >> do you? >> yes, you can. sometimes it's quite annoying. and you have to say, later, please come back ton me later. the iphone is great to put mething done or whatever. it does -- it's the -- i think bob dylan once said there's a -- there's a whole stream of consciousness that you grab on to something at the moment. if you don't get it, it goes on to somebody else. i do believe that artists just know how to reach into there and open that channel and bring that in and part of the craft of it is knowing, okay, i'm at the store, i can't do this now, but i'm going to set some time aside. >> what is the longest period you've ever had where you literally couldn't write a song? of any quality at all? >> wow. i started writing when i was 10. >> did you get long periods though? >> no, i don't. give myself periods where i don't try to write. especially -- like right now, i'm in a not writing period. songs will come to me and i'll jot stuff down but i don't have to write. i've never really held it in a way, like, i have to write. i just believe it will be there when it's supposed to. >> you famously battled breast cancer. you came through. 2004, you were diagnosed. your father had died of cancer. you said after it was the best thing that ever happened to me. why did you feel that? >> i -- i was being a good grown-up. i was working very hard. i was trying to be thin. i was eating power bars every day and drinking lattes -- >> disgusting, power bars. seriously. >> and it's not food. it's not. and so by my body breaking down and forcing me to be still, that was the biggest thing. to actually just -- i'd never been still. been working since i was 12. and be still and let the whole world pass me by and tually give me time to contemplate my life, my spirit, my health. what is my health? what is this cancer? and then getting back up after the treatment. saying, oh, i'm going to walk now. remembering what it was like. like that. and start my life in a balanced health. everything i eat, everything i feel, everything i think. that's health. >> you publicly supported california's proposition 19 in favor of medical marijuana. you said i don't want to look like a criminal to my children anymore. i want them to know this is a choice you make as a responsible adult. if, god forbid, you were struck again by cancer, it came back or whatever, would you take marijuana? >> oh, yes, absolutely. i actually -- i'm a card holding medicinal person in california. i use it as medicine to help the gastrointense gastrointestinal problems i have from chemotherapy. there's not just cqancannabis b there are many plant medicines that are available to us that have a lot of stigma around them that i hope in the future our medical community can look at because i would absolutely go to those alternatives first before i went back to western medicine. >> now, you're currently on tour, hitting 27 cities in the next three months. the new album set for september the 4th. what is next in the empire building of melissa etheridge? where do you want to be in five years time? >> i want to still be creating. i would love to create more for stage. >> do you have one great ambition? broadway show? >> yes, i do. i do have an ambition for a broadway show. i'm working on one right now. a couple of these songs come from the project i'm working on. i would love to write for more film. i just love creating. and touring. i love what i do. injust want to keep doing it. >> the most important thing to me is you keep writing music for me and my car. >> in your car. >> melissa, it's been a real pressure. good luck with your album. your tenth. >> 12th. >> 12 soon, don't worry. dying to meet the lovely gina gershwin. ♪ i'm falling up now [ annie ] this is the story of a girl named annie who dreamed she could fly. like others who braved the sky before her, it took a mighty machine, and plain old ingenuity to go where no fifth grader had gone before. ♪ and she flew and she flew, into the sky and beyond. my name is annie and i'm the girl who dreamed she could fly. powered by intel core processors. ♪ powered by intel core processors. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink good-bye. >> in the 1995 cult classic "showgirls." movies, tv and broadway shows. her new movie is "killer jokes." as amazing as ever. welcome, gina. >> thank you. >> i had to start the interview with that clip. i know that you are not that one again but it's just so iconic. that was the clip. >> this says more about you, that's how you decided to start the show, out of all the shows but hey, it's, you know, whatever. >> you must be proud of it. >> i actually haven't seen that for a long time. it's kind of difficult to watch. >> difficult to film i should think, isn't it? >> oh that scene was easy. i was just laying in a bed in a hospital. didn't have to wear much makeup. that was an easy day. i quite enjoyed it. >> it's nearly 20 years since that film. unbelievably. you don't look a day older. >> oh, well, thank you. >> what is the secret? >> what is the secret? >> to eternity vitality? >> lots of virgin blood. no. i don't know. i feel, you know, i think just have a good life, have fun, f r fairfai fairly healthy, i guess. not taking yourself so seriously. not taking the age thing too seriously either. >> what's it like for women in the movies now compared to when you started? i've heard many sides of this coin. >>cy don't really know because i was a lot younger when i started so i don't have the same issues as now when i'm older. you know, i remember a long time ago sharon stone of l people at her 40th birthday party, she was asking me how old i was. i said -- she goes, you've got to start lying about your age. she said, starting at 40, you're not going to get as many scripts. i just thought she was insane. i actually think there is a little bit of ageism that goes on, on that level. which -- i mean there's two conversations. there's that which, you know, to me you watch something like "benjamin but ttons" and to me it's like you c