{"id":408896,"date":"2026-07-23T02:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T02:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/408896\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T02:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T02:35:11","slug":"music-legend-melissa-etheridge-the-henry-j-kaiser-center-for-the-arts-reopened-bart-prom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/408896\/","title":{"rendered":"Music Legend Melissa Etheridge \/\/ The Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts reopened \/\/ BART Prom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cThe Sights + Sounds Show with Jene\u00e9 Darden,”where every week we tap into the Bay Area arts scene and bring you rich conversations with artists. On today\u2019s show: Host Jene\u00e9 Darden catches up with Grammy-award winning singer and musician Melissa Etheridge. They talk about touring with Wynonna Judd and the foundation Melissa established to research medicinal plant treatments for opioid addiction . Then, after 20 years, the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts is back! We\u2019ll hear from the venue\u2019s CEO about what\u2019s to come. Finally, guess who was crowned king of BART Prom? Here’s a hint, you hear this person\u2019s name on both “Sights + Sounds” shows every week.<\/p>\n

\"Music<\/p>\n

Music legend Melissa Etheridge<\/p>\n

Melissa Etheridge
Music icon Melissa Etheridge<\/a> has been touching her fans\u2019 hearts and ears for decades, with her raw, soulful voice and moving lyrics. Last night, she and country star Wynonna Judd<\/a> made a stop in the South Bay on their \u201cRaised on Radio Tour\u201d at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. Melissa\u2019s latest album \u201cRise<\/a>\u201d is her first album in seven years. It\u2019s inspired by some of the challenges she\u2019s had to rise above in her life, including her 21-year-old son passing away from opioid addiction back in 2020. <\/p>\n

Melissa and Host Jene\u00e9 Darden chatted about this and she shared a beautiful gem with Jene\u00e9 about life, loss and love.<\/p>\n

See Melissa’s and Wynonna\u2019s performance in Santa Barbara<\/a> on Oct 23, and watch her “I<\/a>‘m Not Broken<\/a>” docuseries on Paramount +. <\/p>\n

\"Terri<\/p>\n

Photo Provided by Madeline Deitrick<\/p>\n

Terri Trotter, CEO of the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland<\/p>\n

Terri Trotter
An Oakland entertainment venue has, in a way, been reborn. In 2005, the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts<\/a> closed for two decades . If you\u2019re a long time Oakland resident, you likely went to Henry J. Kaiser Center for high school graduations, concerts and rallies. Renowned people have been on the venue\u2019s stage including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Tina Turner and the Grateful Dead. Since it\u2019s reopening this January, after a $100 million renovation, the center hasn\u2019t missed a beat with the big names. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and comedian Jamie Foxx were on this year\u2019s events calendar. <\/p>\n

Terri Trotter<\/a> is the CEO of the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. She and Host Jene\u00e9 Darden talk about the future plans for the historic venue. <\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/p>\n

(L-R) Photo Provided by Alicia Trost; Galnadgee Joe-Johnson<\/p>\n

(L-R) Alicia Trost, BART\u2019s Chief Communications Officer, and Porfirio Rangel, BART Prom King<\/p>\n

Alicia Trost and Porfirio Rangel
Recently, two journalists from our station made Bay Area history by becoming royalty. Reporter Wendy Reyes<\/a> and \u201cSights + Sounds\u201d Producer Porfirio Rangel<\/a> were crowned king and queen at the first ever BART Prom. Their creative, prom-proposal video won them the honor. More than 1,200 people attended the sold-out \u201880s-themed party, and danced under the Rockridge BART Station rails. This is part of list of fun events BART has organized to increase their ridership. Alicia Trost<\/a> is BART\u2019s chief communications officer. Jene\u00e9 spoke with her and 2026 BART Prom King Porfirio Rangel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to \u201cThe Sights + Sounds Show with Jene\u00e9 Darden,”where every week we tap into the Bay Area…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-408896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}