Melissa Etheridge says she is cancer free

LOS ANGELES - Nine months after doctors found a malignant tumor in her breast, rock singer Melissa Etheridge says she is cancer free and thinking about having a baby with her partner, actress Tammy Lynn Michaels.

"I stand before you a totally healthy person," Etheridge, 44, said in an interview on the syndicated television show "Extra."

According to "Extra," Etheridge revealed that she and Michaels, 30, were planning to have a baby through artificial insemination, and it quoted the raspy-voiced rocker as saying "It's already in the works."

But a spokesman for Etheridge, Marcel Pariseau, said the couple were merely "thinking about" having a baby and that "neither one is pregnant."

Etheridge already has two daughters from a previous relationship -- both fathered by rock legend David Crosby via artificial insemination and borne to her former partner of 12 years, filmmaker Julie Cypher.

But Etheridge ruled out Crosby as a potential father for any future children, saying, "Been there, done that," according to "Extra."

Etheridge, who announced last October that she was cutting short her concert tour to undergo surgery for breast cancer, credited Michaels' support as a key factor in her recovery.

"At the end of the whole thing when it was over, I came home to a bouquet that said 'in sickness and in health,' and she means it," Etheridge said. "And the love and support of someone like that is worth all the money in the world."

The Kansas-born singer-songwriter, known for such hits as "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One," has sold more than 25 million records and has a greatest-hits collection, titled "The Road Less Traveled," due for release in October.

The hits album will include four original recordings, including covers of Tom Petty's "Refugee" and the Janis Joplin classic "Piece of My Heart," which a bald-headed Etheridge performed at the Grammy Awards ceremony in February.

Michaels' acting credits include roles on the television series "Popular" and "Committed."

- REUTERS