Brandi Carlile and Melissa Etheridge Share Praise in Twitter Love Fest

It was a huge weekend for Brandi Carlile, who continues to share on social media about the monumental experience of the past few days. The performer and songwriter went into the Grammy Awards with six nominations, picked up three Grammys, and blew the roof off the Staples Center in Los Angeles with her soaring performance of her Grammy-winning song "The Joke" at the ceremony on Sunday.

Twitter lit up with praise for Carlile practically before she belted her final, visceral note of the "The Joke." And the love didn't end there. Rock legend Melissa Etheridge, who arguably paved the way for Carlile both musically and as an out lesbian throughout her career, has now tweeted that she's proud of the 37-year-old from Seattle.

But Etheridge was privy to Carlile's vocal prowess a full 15 years before a whole new batch of devotees discovered her at the 2019 Grammys. It's kismet that Carlile sang background vocals on Etheridge's 2004 song "Lucky," three years before her own career kicked into high gear with the release of The Story in 2007.

A two-time Grammy winner, and a chart-topping sensation, Etheridge, who came out in the early 1990s, helped cut a path for musicians like Carlile to own their identities, which she alluded to in a tweet back to Etheridge.

Carlile, who's been married to Catherine Shepard since 2012 (they have two daughters together), has been out since she was 15, as she mentioned in a moving Grammy speech.

The sweet exchange went on for a few more tweets with Carlile and Etheridge hinting at the possibility of a collaboration!