1/20/12

RIP Etta James

c.m: Complications resulting from leukemia, Hepatitis C, and Alzheimer's disease


Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins - January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012) was an American singer whose style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in the mid 1950s after being discovered on a San Francisco street corner by Johnny Otis, she gained fame with hits such as "Dance With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", and "I'd Rather Go Blind." She faced a number of personal problems including heroin addiction and prison time before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album, The Seven Year Itch.


She is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. Rolling Stone ranked James number twenty-two on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and number sixty-two on the list of the "100 Greatest Artists."


Etta James is survived by her husband, Artis Mills, and her sons, Donto and Sametto, who both played in her band.


             

(Sources: CNN, NPR, Wiki)

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