Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge will perform Friday, July 20, at MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 29 years since Melissa Etheridge released her self-titled debut album. At the time, she pretty much stood alone in the music world — a raspy-voiced female rocker who wrote her own songs and was (according to the whispers throughout the entertainment world at the time) a lesbian to boot.

My, how times have changed.

Nearly three decades into this “break down barriers and keep on rocking” business, Etheridge will appear at 8 p.m. Friday, July 20, in the MontBleu Theatre at Stateline, Nevada.

Thanks in many ways to her vision, influence and, well, guts, Etheridge no longer has to stand alone on some of the things she helped pioneer all those years ago.

• Melissa Etheridge
  Where: MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa
  When: 8 p.m. Friday, July 20
  Tickets: $65 to $85