Melissa Etheridge Loses 21-Year-Old Son to Addiction

No parent should have to bury their child, and that's the struggle ahead for Melissa Etheridge.

Beckett Cypher, the 21-year-old son of Melissa Etheridge and her former partner and filmmaker Julie Cypher, has died after a long battle with opioid addiction.

She posted the following message on her Twitter account:

Today I joined the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to opioid addiction. My son Beckett, who was just 21, struggled to overcome his addiction and finally succumbed to it today. He will be missed by those who loved him, his family and friends.

My heart is broken. I am grateful for those who have reached out with condolences and I feel their love and sincere grief. We struggle with what else we could have done to save him, and in the end we know he is out of the pain now. I will sing again, soon. It has always healed me.

Beckett leaves behind his sister, Bailey. Their father is David Crosby.

Melissa and her partner were vacationing in Hawaii with Crosby and his wife years back when they started talking about having kids and choosing a sperm donor. David was actually suggested as the donor by his wife, Jan.

It took Melissa and Julie over a year to make the decision but, in the end, they chose David to be the father of their children. Bailey was born in 1997 and Beckett was born a year later in 1998. The couple split up in 2000 but continued to co-parent their kids.

If you or somebody you know is going through opioid addiction, there is help available. Families Against Narcotics of Genesee County has meetings and programs for addicts and their families.

Sending all of our love to Melissa, Julie, Bailey, David and their families.