Her passionate rendition of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" inspired so many cancer survivors that The Post asked some women who'd battled the disease, or were close to others who had, what questions they'd ask Etheridge if they had the chance.

In her first print interview since the headline-grabbing appearance, Etheridge answered their questions with her characteristic wit, grace and good humor — living up to the line in Joplin's classic that says, "I'm gonna show ya baby that a woman can be strong." [tough, Dan... tough :-)]

Q - Debra Zak, Queens, medical caregiver: What words or actions gave you the most strength, especially through the dark days of chemotherapy?

M - The words that really got me through were from my mammo gram doctor, the one who first biopsied the lump. She looked at me and said, "Whatever the results of this are, you'll be fine." That just stuck in my head, and I believed I would be fine.

Q - Deanne N., Brooklyn, lost sister to cancer: Were you nervous about going out in front of a huge audience with your bald head?

M - I just didn't want anybody to feel sorry for me. I didn't want them to look at me and see a sick person; I wanted them to see that this is what happens and this is what I am right now. But I knew that was a chance. I thought, thank goodness I got to sing a kick-ass rock 'n' roll song instead of "My Heart Will Go On."  [Hee hee]

Q - Sharon Blynn, Manhattan, founder of Baldisbeautiful.org, writer, actress, model, ovarian-cancer survivor: Given society's narrow notions about what is beauty and what is feminine, how did you react when you faced losing your hair and, possibly, your breasts?

M - Because I'm a lesbian, my experience might be a little different from a heterosexual woman. I felt less feminine before the cancer. I am more in contact with my femininity now. When I see pictures of me bald, I realize I am more feminine with my head shaved than I've ever been. I thought this was really going to butch me up — but it didn't. It brought out my femininity.

Q - Helen Lewis, Manhattan, art teacher, ovarian-cancer survivor: Has the cancer changed the way you approach your art? Will you ever write an album about what you've been through?

M - Cancer affected my life, and I write about my life. Everything will be colored by that now. I'm starting to write a few new songs for a greatest-hits album. Those songs will definitely cover this. I don't know if I'll do the "pink cancer album," but there will be music about this part of my life.

Q - Cassandra G. Perry, Manhattan, cancer-support specialist: When I saw you on TV, you said you were going to eliminate everything toxic from your life. How will you do that — and how can I?

M - You start on a small level and then you expand. The toxicity may be a relationship, stress or the kind of food you're eating — you have to look at your whole life.

Q - Barbara Carr-Phillips, Knoxville, Tenn., writer, breast cancer survivor: I couldn't stand wearing a wig because it felt like I had an otter on my head, so I wore bandanas. I felt very biker chic and the look suited me because my whole cancer experience made me feel rebellious. Do you feel the same way?

M - I felt very rebellious, and the rebel lion started with my surgical doctor. She said, "You're going to have to have chemo, and you're going to need a wig because nobody wants to see you bald." I remember thinking, up yours, what if I want to be bald? Why should a doctor tell me how I should look because I might make other people uncomfortable?  [Damn skippy! God, I love this woman! :-)] That's when I said, that's not the kind of girl I am. When the opportunity for the Grammy show came up I was like, I'm doing it bald to show that doctor and everybody else who's uncomfortable with a bald woman.

Q - Mary Murphy, Queens, home maker, breast-cancer survivor: Are you religious? How does breast cancer affect your spiritual life?

M - I regard religion and spirituality as two separate things. I'm not religious, but I'm very spiritual. This cancer journey has locked in my spirituality and opened up my mind. I'm not afraid to die anymore. I understand the human spirit more, and that's separate from the human body.

Q - Jean Bowdish, Queens, executive assistant, breast-cancer survivor: I heard you stopped chemotherapy after five treatments. How did you make your treatment choices?

M - That was the hardest thing because there are so many opinions. I listened to everything and then started my own research. I took a treatment that's fairly new, called dose dense, where you take it every two weeks and it hits you pretty hard. I took four treatments of that, and it was the fifth treatment of Taxol where I had this really horrible reaction. I started to feel numb in my fingers, so I stopped because I might not have been able to play guitar. Someone else might have risked that, but I chose not to continue.

Q - Farah Ameen, New York City: Do you think your openness will help other women talk about their breast cancer?

M - I hope so. I was shocked at how much I didn't know, how much misconception there is. It's almost expected that if you're going through this, you do it quietly. Illness is treated strangely in our society. I was part of that. When I was healthy I was like, hide the sick people away. Now that I'm on the other side, I say wait a minute, what's going on here?

Q - Ruth Cohen, Long Island, sales woman, breast-cancer survivor: When you said you were gay, it defined you in your personal and business life. Does saying you have breast cancer do the same?

M - Yes, absolutely. I'm finding that people look at you through definitions. "Etheridge, she's a rock-'n'-roll lesbian, and a mother who now has breast cancer." These are all true things, and it defines who I am.

Q - Liz Galst, New York: How are your kids reacting to your illness?

M - Kids are wonderful. My boy is 6 and my daughter is 8. She has been like Florence Nightingale. She's been so brave. She asks the questions any kid would ask, like, "Will I get this?" "Are you going to die?" and I answered them truthfully. My son is younger and he had a harder time grasping it all. I could see how on my lowest days, he would pull away. He's better now, and this whole thing has made our family much closer. The key was honesty with them and not hiding anything.

Q - Fran C., Philadelphia, cancer- research lobbyist: Do you plan to get involved politically to help other breast-cancer survivors?

M - I am already. I will never pretend I didn't go through it and that I don't care. . . . I will support research with money and I will speak out. That's one of the many reasons this gift has happened.  [As if there was any doubt!  I truly have never been prouder to be a fan of this amazing human being called Melissa Etheridge!]

Q - Jane B., New York: Has breast cancer changed your perspective about what's important?

M- Yes, absolutely. With the diagnosis came the knowledge that as long as I have my family and love, I don't need anything else. . . . Take all these great things I have acquired, which I'm very grateful for anyway, and I will survive if I have my family and my wife.

Q - Erin Z., New York: My sister has leukemia and just recently lost her hair. Your head is so beautiful and so is my sister's. I was wondering if you have a particular "head-care" regimen?

M - You wouldn't believe how chemo dries you out. I started using shea butter on my hands and head. It's a natural lotion made from a tree in Kenya by a company called Karite. I used this every day. Now that my hair is starting to grow back, I'm using a product made by Phyto for chemo patients that restores health to the head follicles.

Q - Dan Aquilante, Queens: Will it help a balding rock critic?

M - Sorry, dude, you're on your own.

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