James was a star, yet one seemingly set on self-destruction. Addicted to heroin and bad men, she lived a criminal lifestyle and was jailed several times. After leaving jail in Anchorage, Alaska, in , she met and married Artis Mills. When, in , the couple were arrested in San Antonio, Texas, on narcotics charges, Mills took the fall.
On his release in , the couple reunited. James never again enjoyed a major US hit, although she continued to record strong material. Perhaps her voice, so raw and emotionally expressive, was too fierce for the general public.
Indeed, hurt, anger and self-destructive behaviour boiled beneath the surface of her vocals. Once asked to describe her style, she responded that singing allowed her to vent "all this bitch shit inside of me". James became a natural replacement for Joplin after the latter's death in Teamed with Joplin's collaborator Gabriel Meckler in , James began to record rock songs: mauling the Eagles, slugging Randy Newman. By her own account, James fell back into drug addiction after becoming involved with a man with a habit, and she went back to playing club dates when and where she could until she kicked again thanks to a stay at the Betty Ford Center in The album sold respectably and James was determined to keep her career on track, playing frequent live shows and recording regularly, issuing Stickin' to My Guns in and The Right Time in In , a year after she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, James signed to the Private Music label, and recorded Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday , a tribute to the great vocalist she had long cited as a key influence; the album earned Etta her first Grammy Award.
The relationship with Private Music proved simpatico, and between and James cut eight albums for the label, while also maintaining a busy touring schedule. In , James was hospitalized with MRSA-related infections, and it was revealed that she had received treatment for dependence on painkillers and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which her son claimed was the likely cause of her outbursts regarding Knowles.
James released The Dreamer , for Verve Forecast in She claimed it was her final album of new material. Etta James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia later that year, and died on January 20, in Riverside, California at the age of AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. After a mid-decade fade, she re-emerged in with a more hard-edged, soulful sound. More Videos Throughout her career, James overcame a heroin addiction, opened for the Rolling Stones, won six Grammys and was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Despite her ups and downs -- including a number of health problems -- she maintained an optimistic attitude. They have that sorry feeling. Through it all, she was a spitfire beloved by contemporaries and young up-and-comers. British songstress Adele named James as one of her favorite singers, along with Aretha Franklin.
She suspected her father was the pool player Minnesota Fats. Her birth mother initially took little responsibility and James was raised by a series of people, notably a pair of boardinghouse owners. But she was recognized from a young age for her booming voice, showcased in a South Central Los Angeles church. In , her mother took her to San Francisco, where James formed a group called the Peaches. Her dusky voice, which could stretch from a sultry whisper to an aching roar, influenced generations of singers who came after, from Tina Turner to Bonnie Raitt to Christina Aguilera.
Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter. She was fearless, and had guts. The mark she made was setting the bar so high for the depths someone can sing from. The ache and the pain and the ferocity and the soul and the sexiness — it all came through in the space of one three-minute song.
Despite her early commercial success, James wrestled for much of her life with her weight, addictions to drugs and alcohol and with her tumultuous relationship with her mother, who was just 14 when she gave birth to Jamesetta Hawkins on Jan. From Janis Joplin to Joss Stone, an incredible number of performers owe their debts to her.
There is no mistaking the voice of Etta James, and it will live forever. He outlined the song and James finished it, but for tax reasons she gave the co-writing credit to Medallions singer Billy Foster, to whom she was briefly married. It conveys the desperation of a woman who prefers losing her sight to seeing her man with someone else.
James, the child of a single teenage mother growing up in South Los Angeles during World War II, never knew her father but remained convinced throughout her life that he was pool shark Minnesota Fats.
With her blond curls and light complexion, she stood out in the African American community, and she started to make a mark singing in the choir of St. Paul Baptist Church. Early on, she toured with Johnny Guitar Watson, the Texas singer, songwriter and guitarist, in an association that figured prominently in her approach to music for the rest of her life.
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