*According to The AP, Etta James, the R&B singer whose raw, passionate vocals anchored many hits and made the yearning ballad “At Last” an enduring anthem for weddings, commercials and even President Obama, died Friday. She was 73.
James had been suffering from dementia, kidney problems, and battling leukemia. In December 2011, her physician announced that her leukemia was terminal, and asked for prayers for the singer. During her illness, her husband Artis Mills and her two sons fought bitterly over control of her $1 million estate, though a deal was later struck keeping Mills as the conservator and capping the singer’s expenses at $350,000.
James died at Riverside Community Hospital, with her husband and sons at her side, De Leon said.
“It’s a tremendous loss for her fans around the world,” he said. “She’ll be missed. A great American singer. Her music defied category.”
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Rest on in peace Ms. Etta James. Thank you for the wonderful, passion filled songs.
EUR can’t ya’ll get your facts straight. Ms. Etta was 73
Rest in Peace Ms James, you were truly talented and one of a kind. My condolences go out ot her family, friends and many fans globally.
She can finally rest in peace. I know her last days were not good and that it was a matter of time. I was turned on to her music by a DJ named Laura Kane. There was oldie R&B show that came on Sundays and when Laura came on she would always play a few Etta James songs. This made me love Etta’s raw, gritty vocals and wanting to hear more. Back in the day they used her song “I Just Want To Make Love To You for the Diet Pepsi commercial that was about these office worker’s who would look at the window at this particuar construction worker. After hearing that snippet of the song, I had to find the CD with that cut on there. I read her life story and Ms. James had a rough but interesting life. Like I said before, she can finally “Rest in Peace”!
Angie I worked w/Laura in Dallas,was the show Solid Gold Sunday?Anyway sad to hear Miss Peaches ,Jamesetta Hawkins has passed away,she was a tough tough woman.RIP Mam
Yes, that was the name of the show. I didn’t realize until later my family had some of Etta’s music. I knew the songs I just didn’t know they were by Etta James.
I am not a Beyonce fan, and she certainly canNOT act, but I enjoyed her portrayal of Etta James very much and the way she sang “At Last.”
RIP, Ms. James.
R.I.P. Ms. Etta James and Eurweb, she was 73!
I found it ironic that she died two days after the great R&B bandleader/musician, Johnny Otis, who discovered her. Etta deserves more than to just be remembered for ‘At Last’. She had was one of the R&B female shouters of the 50s. She, Dinah Washington, Lavern Baker and Ruth Brown were trailblazers for black female singers during the male dominated Rock and Roll fifties era. People don’t realize that Etta’s musical career spanned more than 50 years and all people can talk about is the one song she sang and ‘what she said about Beyonce’ on the Grammys. C’mon. Ms. Etta paid her dues and paved the way for alot of these ‘youngins’. They better hope they will have the kind of career longevity that Ms. Etta had.
Thank you, Ms. James.
We lost another great one today! RIP Etta!
RIP Etta
Another great one is gone. Only a few days after Johnny Otis who discovered her Little Esther Phillips and many others. I remember her coming to Indianpolis’ Pink Poodle Night Club in the late 50′s. She had recorded a hit record earlier named “Roll With Me Henry.” with Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglowss. The title was tooo suggestive and risque so they changed the name to the Wall Flower Song. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had recorded “Annie Had a Baby, Can’t Work No Mo’” and “I Just Love Your Sexy Ways.” Nobody changed those song titles. Ms. James Johnny Otis, LIttle Esther, Big Mama Thornton, Lowell Fulson, Bo DIdley all be waiting for you at the Pearly Gates. Rest in Peace now, the struggle is over.