Etta James faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch.
49 Facts About Etta James
2.
Etta James won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards.
3.
Etta James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.
4.
Etta James received a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 2003.
5.
Etta James was born on January 25,1938, in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Hawkins, who was 14 at the time.
6.
Etta James's mother was frequently absent from their apartment in Watts, conducting relationships with various men, and James lived with a series of foster parents, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu.
7.
Etta James received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from Etta James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir at the St Paul Baptist Church in South-Central Los Angeles.
8.
Etta James quickly became known for having an unusually strong voice for a child her age.
9.
Etta James believed that King's hit single "Sweet Sixteen" was about her.
10.
Etta James recalled how happy he made her many years later when she found out that it was Presley who had moved her close friend Jackie Wilson from a substandard convalescent home to a more appropriate facility and, as she put it, paid all the expenses.
11.
Dueting with Harvey Fuqua, Etta James recorded for Argo Records, a label established by Chess.
12.
Etta James's first hit singles with Fuqua were "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful".
13.
Etta James sang background vocals for her labelmate Chuck Berry on his "Back in the USA".
14.
Etta James followed this with "Trust in Me", which included string instruments.
15.
Later that same year, Etta James released a second studio album, The Second Time Around.
16.
Etta James ventured into rock and funk with the release of her self-titled album in 1973, with production from the famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin.
17.
Joplin had admired Etta James and had covered "Tell Mama" in concert.
18.
In 1975, Etta James opened up for comedian Richard Pryor at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles.
19.
That same year, Etta James was the opening act for the Rolling Stones and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
20.
Etta James continued to perform on occasion in the early 1980s, including two guest appearances at Grateful Dead concerts in December 1982.
21.
Also in 1989 Etta James was filmed in a concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles with Joe Walsh and Albert Collins for the film Jazzvisions: Jump the Blues Away.
22.
Etta James participated with the rap singer Def Jef on the song "Droppin' Rhymes on Drums", which mixed Etta James's jazz vocals with hip-hop.
23.
Etta James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
24.
Etta James signed with Private Music Records in 1993 and recorded a Billie Holiday tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.
25.
Etta James performed at the top jazz festivals in the world, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1977,1989,1990 and 1993.
26.
Etta James performed nine times at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival and five times at the San Francisco Jazz Festival.
27.
Etta James performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival in 1990,1997,2004, and 2007.
28.
Etta James performed six times at the North Sea Jazz Festival, in 1978,1982,1989,1990,1991 and 1993.
29.
Etta James often performed at free summer arts festivals throughout the United States.
30.
Etta James carried on touring but by 2010 had to cancel concert dates because of her gradually failing health; by this time she was suffering from dementia and leukemia.
31.
In November 2011, Etta James released her final album, The Dreamer, which was critically acclaimed upon its release.
32.
Etta James announced that this would be her final album.
33.
Etta James' enduring relevance was affirmed in 2011 when the late Swedish DJ Avicii achieved substantial chart success with the song "Levels", which samples her 1962 song "Something's Got a Hold on Me".
34.
Etta James has influenced a wide variety of musicians, including, notably, Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin, Brandy, Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Beth Hart, Hayley Williams of Paramore and Brent Smith of Shinedown as well as British artists The Rolling Stones, Elkie Brooks, Paloma Faith, Joss Stone, Rita Ora, Amy Winehouse, and Adele, and the Belgian singer Dani Klein.
35.
Etta James was married to Artis Mills from 1969 until her death in 2012.
36.
Etta James bounced checks, forged prescriptions and stole from her friends to finance her addiction.
37.
Etta James was placed on probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.
38.
Etta James encountered a string of legal problems during the early 1970s due to her heroin addiction.
39.
Etta James was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers, including the Tarzana Treatment Centers, in Los Angeles, California.
40.
In 1974, Etta James was sentenced to drug treatment instead of serving time in prison.
41.
Etta James was in the Tarzana Psychiatric Hospital for 17 months, starting at the age of 36, and went through a great struggle at the start of treatment.
42.
In 2010, Etta James received treatment for a dependency on painkillers.
43.
Etta James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA, a bacterium resistant to many antibiotics.
44.
Etta James died on January 20,2012, five days before her 74th birthday, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California.
45.
Etta James's death came three days after that of Johnny Otis, the man who had discovered her in the 1950s.
46.
Etta James's funeral was presided over by the Reverend Al Sharpton and took place in Gardena, California eight days after her death.
47.
Etta James was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County, California.
48.
Since 1989, Etta James has received over 30 awards and recognitions from eight different organizations, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences which organizes the Grammys.
49.
Etta James's first was in 1995, when she was awarded Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the album Mystery Lady, which consisted of covers of Billie Holiday songs.