Etta James

She married Artis Mils in 1969 who remained her husband until her death. She had two sons Donto and Sametto, both of whom are performers. She was continuously in and out of rehabilitation centers.

Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and with terminal leukemia, she died in California on January 20, 2012. The funeral was presided by Rev. Al Sharpton and she was entombed at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County, California.

Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles to fourteen year old Dorothy Hawkins. She was brought -up by foster parents, Mama Lu, and Sarge who forced her to sing for his friends.

She received her first professional vocal training at the age of five from James Earle Hines, musical director of the St. Paul Baptist Church Echoes of Eden choir, in south central Los Angeles.

When Mama Lu died in 1950, Dorothy took her to the Fillmore District, San Francisco where she was exposed to doo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, called the Creolettes.

In 1952, she met musician Johnny Otis who helped the band sign to Modern Records and changing their name to the Peaches and gave the singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into "Etta James".

In 1960, she decided to sign with Leonard Chess' label, Chess Records, and shortly afterwards got involved in a relationship with singer Harvey Fuqua, founder of the doo-wop group, The Moonglows.

Dueting with Harvey Fuqua, she recorded her first hit singles, If I Can't Have You, and, Spoonful. Her first solo hit in doo-wop style, All I Could Do Was Cry, became an R&B hit.

She recorded the hit ballad, My Dearest Darling, in 1960, to the accompaniment of string instruments, and sang background vocals on label mate Chuck Berry's, Back in the U.S.A.

The Wallflower, or Dance with Me, Henry, written by Johnny Otis, Hank Ballard, and Etta James was recorded by her for Modern Records in 1955 and topped the U.S. R&B chart for 4 weeks.

James’ 1960 debut album, At Last! is noted for its musical variety of jazz, blues, doo-wop and R&B numbers, included, I Just Want to Make Love to You, and, A Sunday Kind of Love.

In 1993, she recorded the tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday, and began to incorporate more jazz elements and won for her a first Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance.