How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Melissa Etheridge

Los Angeles Times

01-08-2025

Melissa Etheridge has always written what she feels, and what she's feeling right now, at this moment in her life, is liberated. The folk-rock legend, best known for her raspy '90s anthems (cue 'Come to my window …'), just finished recording a new album due out next year. A theme that permeates throughout her lyrics? Setting herself free.
'It's a lot about letting go of trying to make everything perfect,' Etheridge says. 'Letting go of trying to change other people to make me happy because it doesn't work that way.'
She chats with us from her Yes We Are Tour with the Indigo Girls, an occasion she describes as the ultimate girls' night out. 'It's brought a lot of women out — grandmothers, mothers, daughters,' Etheridge says. 'It's music that you remember and it feels really amazing.'
The tour makes a stop next week at the Greek Theatre, which will feel like a homecoming of sorts for the artist who has lived in L.A. for the past 43 years. Etheridge and her wife Linda Wallem, along with Etheridge's young adult children, have settled in the Calabasas area and find comfort in the many neighborhood charms. Today Etheridge, who says she has had 'many incredible Sundays' around town, describes a perfect one. It starts with a stroll close to home and then ventures downtown for brunch and art, and into Studio City for a heavenly deep-fried Fluffernutter.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
7 a.m.: Wake up and walk We love to get right up, and the first thing we do is go for a walk. We go for about a mile and a half, and it's just really lovely. And we love all our neighbors, and it's a really fantastic place.
8 a.m.: Coffee with extra love Then we would go to La La Land Kind Cafe at the Commons in Calabasas. What's special about it is that it [employs] foster kids. The owner is a really special guy that puts a lot of love into the place. And it's so L.A. — you can ask for 'extra love' and they'll say, 'Oh, we love you!' when we leave. They have a butterfly matcha latte — you know, blue and green. Really crazy, beautiful drinks. So we'll pick up coffee and then go to Hank's Bagels and get some bagels for the kids.
9 a.m.: Crank up the car tunes After we drop everything off at home, we're leaving to go downtown. On Sunday at nine o'clock, you can get downtown in a reasonable amount of time. I've got the music cranked up in our car. We love to listen to the Chris Stapleton channel on Sirius XM. And we're listening to my new album that I just recorded that won't be out until 2026.
10 a.m.: A leisurely brunchWe'll go to the Girl & the Goat. Chef Stephanie Izard has these biscuits and chicken. Incredible. It's not too foofy because you just don't want to get too foofy for brunch. You want to, oh, feel it when you're done. So that's what we'll do. That's from, like, 10 to 11 a.m. No, 10 to 12. I'm not rushing. It's a beautiful restaurant.
Noon: See what's on display in downtown L.A.Then we're going to go see whatever exhibits or installations they have downtown. The last time we went, it was 'Luna Luna.' Really great. One time, it was the King Tut exhibit.
3 p.m.: A quick stop at Atrium Then we'll get the kids. On the way back, we stop at one of our favorite cannabis stores, Atrium on Topanga [Canyon Boulevard] — our other favorite is Coast to Coast in Canoga Park — and get some because we're going to our favorite movie theater later tonight.
3:30 p.m.: Spend time at my favorite musical playground We swing by Norman's Rare Guitars, which is in Tarzana. It's not open on Sundays, but if this was a dream, it would be. [Owner Norman Harris] has an exquisite collection that everyone has bought from, from Tom Petty to George Harrison to Bob Dylan to me.
Sometimes I'll trade a guitar with [Norman], and sometimes I'll have him show me a ridiculously expensive guitar just to look at it, and then I'll tell him I can never buy it. There's always something happening in there. I've sat in the middle of the store with my friend Ashley McBryde and sang songs. It's just a really cool place. Only in L.A.
5 p.m.: A night at the moviesWe'll get to our favorite movie theater, Cinépolis, where we're going to watch the latest movie. They serve dinner and drinks in the theater, and it's just a really fun night. The last movie we saw was 'Thunderbolts.' It's freaking great. God, I love Florence Pugh. My kids were skeptical about Marvel, but they really liked it. It's nice not having to cook or clean on a Sunday. So far, we've eaten 10,000 calories today.
8 p.m.: The dessert of all dessertsThen if we could pack in all the fun, we would go down the 101 to Studio City, where Chef Antonia Lofaso has the Black Market Liquor Bar. She has a dessert called the Fluffernutter. Oh, my God. It's a deep-fried Fluffernutter. It's so good. So we would go get dessert there. Then we would drive home.
10 p.m.: End the night under the stars We have a little fire pit outside in our backyard. And we love to sit and look at the stars and use some of that stuff that we got at the Atrium.
I constantly think, oh, I'm going to move out of L.A. And we travel all around the world. And I swear, every time I come back, I'm like, this feels like home. This is home.