She started her singing lessons at a young age through the church while she was in foster care. At the time she was physically abused by her foster dad and her music teacher, both of whom used her like a performing monkey. I've mentioned before that my teacher had pushed on my stomach once to get me to use the right muscles for singing? That's normal, but Etta's teacher was trying to achieve the same goal by punching her stomach. All the abuse gave her PTSD and she had trouble performing on command her whole life because of it. By 14, she was part of a girl group and met Johnny Otis who became their mentor. He named the group the Peaches, and he's the one that flipped her name changing Jamesetta Hawkins to Etta James. She left the group after a pop singer had redone one of her songs, topping the charts with it. She signed with a new label and kept making R&B songs until this song came out in 1961. The 60's was the peak of her career, then it declined as she started experimenting with other types of music. She actually ended up taking a 10 year hiatus, struggling with addiction before coming back to perform for the 1984 Summer Olympics. The 90's saw her releasing some more music, being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the win of her first Grammy. She kept up with all that, seeing more albums and awards through the last leg of her career, as well as releasing her autobiography. She had Alzheimer's, but ultimately it was leukemia that took her. I know it sounds horrible to say, but anything is better than Alzheimer's. It's hell to watch someone go through that and it's hell on the people taking care of someone they love who has no idea who they are. Anyway, she lived an amazing life, and if you're curious you should look into her more.
Peace.
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