Melissa Etheridge opens up about getting through the grief of her son's death: 'You can't be shattered'

Melissa Etheridge is opening up about her "deepest wound" and how she's healing from it.

In an interview with Rolling Stone on Thursday, the Grammy-Award winning singer discussed the death of her son Beckett, who died on May 13 at age 21 from a drug overdose. She admitted that watching her son struggle with his opioid addiction through the years was painful, especially since it was "out of my control."

“There came a time when I needed to really sit down with myself and say, ‘I can’t save him. I can’t give up my life and go try to live his life for him.’ And I had to come up against the possibility that he might die."

Rest in peace: Melissa Etheridge's daughter pays tribute to brother Beckett, dead of opioid addiction at 21

'It's got me through everything': Melissa Etheridge is coping with her son's death through music

However, the resilient rocker learned not to let the guilt consume her.

"You can't lay down, you can't be shattered, you can't die and give up. That's what my son did, you know. (Life is) to be lived, to learn."

While she initially took a break from singing to grieve, Etheridge revealed that music "has saved me my whole entire life," attributing it as her best coping mechanism.

"My release, the thing that makes life make sense has always been my music," she said. "I've always been able to sing and breathe and let it out and get the emotions out through music."

More: Melissa Etheridge says her studio has helped her heal 'greatly' following son's death

Another thing that helped Etheridge and her family get through the tragic time was creating Etheridge TV, her live streaming platform. She and her wife, TV producer Linda Wallem, "created something we've dreamed of": a garage studio. According to the 59-year-old singer, the couple originally "didn't know about lighting," and "had to learn about cameras and streaming" but eventually transformed their garage into a studio for Etheridge TV.

"This was a place where we could make our dream come true of creating television around what I love to do, which is to sing," she said, smiling.

Etheridge sings covers on Tuesdays, deep tracks on Thursdays and rock concerts on Saturdays on the streaming platform.

"It gives us something to do every day to get us through this time, and it's just really saved us."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Melissa Etheridge: Son dying led to healing through music