Melissa Etheridge made waves in 1988 as one of the few female rockers on the scene; in 1993, she made headlines by coming out as a lesbian. Etheridge's confessional lyrics and raspy voice earned her comparisons to Springsteen and Janis Joplin; she broke through to a pop audience with 1994's "Yes I Am." In 2000, she revealed that her two children (with her then-partner Julie Cypher) had been fathered with sperm donated by rock legend David Crosby.