Melissa Etheridge To Be Honored With NARM's Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award

Marlton, NJ (Top40 Charts/ NARM) - NARM, the music business association, announced today that it will honor Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist Melissa Etheridge with its Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award. The presentation will take place at the 2010 NARM Convention on Monday, May 17, in Chicago.

A passionate advocate for the gay community, Etheridge has promoted equal rights and civic consciousness throughout her career. A supporter of the Human Rights Campaign, Etheridge in 2000 headlined its 'Equality Rocks' concert in DC, where 45,000 people gathered to support equality.

A cancer survivor, for the past three years, Etheridge has been a cornerstone artist in Hard Rock International's 'Pinktober' campaign, a philanthropic initiative created to support organizations in the fight against breast cancer through a series of live music events held at Hard Rock establishments worldwide. In 2005, she recorded the breast cancer survivor anthem 'I Run For Life' at the behest of Ford Cares. It was used as the theme song for the Susan G. Koman 'Race for the Cure' and Ford Breast Cancer Awareness 'Tied to the Scarf' campaign.

A supporter of Live Earth, Etheridge also contributed the theme song, 'I Need To Wake Up,' to former Vice President Al Gore's global warming documentary, 'An Inconvenient Truth.' This won her the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2007.

'We are so proud to honor Melissa Etheridge for her outstanding philanthropic efforts,' said NARM President Jim Donio. 'She has truly made a far-reaching, inspiring and positive impact on the world.'

Established to memorialize Chapin's influential efforts on behalf of the environment and other humanitarian causes, this Award has been presented to honorees such as Norman Lear, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Hilary Rosen, and the organizations 'Rock the Vote,' 'Hands Across America,' and 'Live Aid.'

Etheridge has won two Grammy Awards. Island Records will release her new album, 'Fearless Love,' on April 27.