LOS ANGELES – Three-time Grammy winner Etta James, a pioneer of 1950s rhythm and blues and rock music known for her show-stopping hit, At Last, died in Riverside, California, yesterday from complications of leukaemia.
The R&B singer (73) saw numerous ups and downs in her career and personal life. She struggled with obesity and heroin addiction and had troubled relationships with men.
She sang with a mixture of power and pain that led veteran musical producer Jerry Wexler to call her “the greatest of all modern blues singers . . . the undisputed earth mother”.
She was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938 to a teenage mother. She was discovered by band leader Johnny Otis and had her first hit, with the group The Peaches, in 1955. – (Reuters)