Melissa Etheridge Marries Girlfriend Linda Wallem

True love…so blessed. “By the power invested in me by the state of California…” Thanks pic.twitter.com/rWftMxdxQv

That’s the Twitter message from Melissa Etheridge, who married her longtime friend and eventual love on Saturday, two days after their shared 53rd birthday on May 29. The day after their birthday, Etheridge hinted at the big day to come:

“Linda and I had a great birthday yesterday. Now, just a little rehearsal for something we will be doing tomorrow…”

Etheridge said she feels “blessed” for the opportunity to legally marry Linda Wallem, whom she’s been friends with for more than a decade and began dating in 2010.

Wallem was born in Wisconsin and has an impressive career as a writer and producer, best known for co-creating Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie.” She was a longtime writer for “That ‘70s Show” and the mid-90s hit “Cybill,” starrying Cybill Shephard, on which she occasionally appeared.

“She was my best friend for nine years, so it’s an interesting relationship,” the singer told Michigan’s weekly Revue. “I’ve never been friends with someone for that long and then entered into a romantic relationship. … This way, she already knows everything. She’s my friend and it’s really pretty amazing. I’m happier than I’ve ever, ever been.”

Etheridge has had other high-profile relationships, and went through a commitment ceremony in 2003 with Tammy Lynn Michaels, birthmother to the couple’s 7-year-old twins, Miller and Johnnie Rose. They announced their separation in 2010. The twins, Miller and Johnnie Rose, took part in the wedding.

Etheridge announced last September that she would be taking advantage of the Supreme Court rulings in favor of marriage equality. “I look forward to exercising my American civil liberties,” she tweeted at the time.

People reported that all of Etheridge’s children—including Bailey Jean Cypher, 17, and Beckett Cypher, 15, from a long-term relationship with her ex, Julie Cypher—participated in the wedding. Jane Lynch, Chelsea Handler, Rosie O’Donnell, Whitney Cummings, and Peter Facinelli were reported as wedding guests.
Etheridge played a song at the wedding that she wrote for Wallem. She also told Revue that she and Wallem are working on a theatrical project together, with Etheridge writing the music and Wallem overseeing the story. “It’s really edgy and cool,” the singer said. “I’m very excited about it.”