Etta James

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles to a 14-year-old mother, James lived with foster parents "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. Her early training came at age five from William Hawkins of The Echoes choir, who punched her chest to force her voice from her gut. Sarge also abused her, forcing her to sing for friends during drunken poker games, a trauma that made singing on demand difficult throughout her career. At 14, she met Johnny Otis in San Francisco, who helped form the Creolettes (later Peaches) and gave her the stage name Etta James by transposing "Jamesetta." In early 1955, she recorded "The Wallflower," originally titled "Roll with Me, Henry" to avoid censorship. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B Best Sellers chart in March 1955. While touring with Little Richard, pop singer Georgia Gibbs released a cover as "Dance With Me, Henry," reaching number one on the Billboard pop chart (the Billboard Hot 100 did not exist until 1958) and angering James.

In Their Own Story

In early 1960, James signed with Chess Records, where co-founder Leonard Chess envisioned her as a ballad stylist. Her debut album *At Last!* featured jazz standards and blues, including "I Just Want to Make Love to You." In 1961, she released "At Last," which reached number two on the R&B chart. After minor hits in the mid-1960s, she returned in 1967 with sessions at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. These yielded the comeback hit "Tell Mama" and its B-side, "I'd Rather Go Blind." James wrote the latter with friend Ellington "Fugi" Jordan while he was in prison but credited her partner Billy Foster for tax reasons. Following Leonard Chess's death in 1969, she continued recording into the 1970s, though her career never regained its early-to-mid-1960s peak.

Reader's Guide

Etta James won three Grammy Awards: Best Traditional Blues Album for *Blues to the Bone* (2005), Best Contemporary Blues Album for *Let's Roll* (2004), and Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female for *Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday* (1995). She also received 17 Blues Music Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Her accolades include induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1993), the Grammy Hall of Fame (1999), and the Blues Hall of Fame (2001). *Rolling Stone* ranked her number 22 on its 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and number 62 on its "100 Greatest Artists." Billboard's 2015 list named her among the "35 Greatest R&B Artists," praising her gutsy vocals that interpreted blues, soul, rock, jazz, and gospel.

Did You Know?

• James speculated her father was pool player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, whom she met in 1987.
• Musician Bobby Murray wrote that James went steady with B.B. King when she was 16 and believed his hit "Sweet Sixteen" was about her.
• James shared a bill with Elvis Presley in October 1955.
• The song "I'd Rather Go Blind" was co-written with Ellington "Fugi" Jordan while he was incarcerated, though James gave credit to Billy Foster for tax reasons.
• Johnny Otis named the group Peaches because of their light-skinned complexions before giving James her stage name.