Biography for
Etta James More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 January 1938, Los Angeles, California, USA

Date of Death

20 January 2012, Riverside, California, USA (complications from leukemia)

Birth Name

Jamesetta Hawkins

Nickname

Miss Peaches

Height

5' 3" (1.60 m)

Spouse

Artis Mills

(1969 - 20 January 2012) (her death) 2 children

Trivia

Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Ranked #19 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll

She was voted the 62nd Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

She is survived by her husband, Artis James of 42 years; two sons, Donto James and Sametto James; and four grandchildren.

She was signed by Chess Records in 1960.

Daughter of Dorothy Hawkins (who was 14 years old at the time of her birth). She was raised by foster parents and moved to San Francisco, California when she was 12 years old with her mother. She began singing at St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California at 5 years old.

She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame for her services and contributions to the music industry. She was awarded four Grammy Awards including the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award Honor in 2003 and a 1995 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the album, "Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.

She died at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California where she was a resident at the time of her death.

Personal Quotes

I figured I could do 'It's a Man's, Man's, Mans' World' because I believe it's the truth.

Most of the songs I sing have that blues feeling. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about. I don't.

My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that.

The only time that I am really truly happy - when I feel at my best - is when I am on the stage.

When I perform what happens is I'm somewhere else. I go back in time and get in touch with who I really am.

[on Beyoncé Knowles in 2009] I can't stand Beyoncé.

[on her music] A lot of people think the blues is depressing but that's not the blues I'm singing. When I'm singing blues, I singing life. People can't stand to listen to the blues, they've got to be phonies.