Great Etta James Accomplishments

The Great Etta James is a major female star. She was a Grammy Award winner. She was best known for her raw energy and songs such as “At Last” and “Suga on the Floor.”

At Peek at Early Life

Etta James, like so many artists, changed her name at some point in her life. She was born with the name Jamesetta Hawkins on the twenty fifth day of January in 1938. She had so much soul that I thought she was a southern girl, however, she was born in Los Angeles, CA to a girl not much older than she was at birth. Her mother (Dorothy Hawkins) was only 14 when she had Etta. Etta never knew her sperm donor. Dorothy was a smart girl, nonetheless and encouraged her daughter to sing, sing, sing! Dorothy always told her daughter that she had something

She stayed with Chess Records until the early '70s. By this time, Etta had did more than experiment with heroin... she was a full fledged addict. She still continued to work, however, her professional and personal life did suffer because of it. Do you remember the Tell Mama album? Yeah, she did that back in 1967 as a result of the Muscle Shoals house band and Fame studios.

Her next album, Etta James, received grand attention and praise. Even those that didn't like Etta had to give it up. She did that! Because of it, she earned a Grammy nomination. Shortly after, her contract with Chess Records was over. In 1977, Etta signed with Warner Brothers. Many people were at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics in '84 just to see her.

“Deep in the Night” and “Seven Year Itch” received high acclaim. So much so, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and signed with Private

This tremendous weight loss affected her voice. She told Ebony magazine that she was able to sing higher, lower and louder. Yes indeed. You go, girl.

With that in mind, she released Let's Roll. It won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Somewhere in Ms James' career, she had time to give birth to two sons, Donto and Sametto James. They served as producers on the recording with Josh Sklair. They teamed to do another collaboration – Blues to the Bone in 2004. She got another Grammy! This time it was for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Well, here it is in 2006... it's been a long time, Etta... and she covering songs by Prince, Marvin Gaye and the godfather of soul, James Brown. She happily paid a tribute to Ms Ella Fitzgerald (We Love Ella) in 2007.

Here Comes the Mess With