Etta James
Etta James
Etta James performing in 1990
Background information
Birth name
Jamesetta Hawkins
Also known
as
Miss Peaches
Born
January 25, 1938
(1938-01-25)
Origin
Los Angeles, California, US
Genre(s)
Blues, R&B, Rock & Roll,
Jazz, Soul
Occupation(s)
singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar
Voice type(s)
Contralto[1].
Years active
1954 – present
Label(s)
Modern
Chess
Argo
Crown
Cadet
Island
Private Music
RCA
Associated
acts
Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Otis,
Sugar Pie DeSanto
Website
Official Website
Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins on
January 25, 1938) is an American blues, soul,
R&B, rock & roll, gospel and jazz singer and
songwriter. James is the winner of four
Grammys
and
seventeen Blues Music
Awards. She was inducted into the Rock &
Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of
Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame
both in 1999 and 2008.[2] In the 1950s and
60s, she had her biggest success as a blues
and R&B singer. She is best known for per-
forming "At Last", which has been featured in
many movies, television shows, commercials,
and web-streaming services since its release.
James has a contralto vocal range.[1]
Early life
Jamesetta Hawkins was born in Los Angeles,
California,
to an unmarried 14-year-old
African-American, Dorothy Hawkins. She
claimed that her mother told her that her
father was pool player Rudolf "Minnesota
Fats" Wanderone, who was Caucasian, and
that they received financial support from him
on the condition that they keep his paternity
a secret. However, James was born in Los
Angeles at a time when Wanderone was
known to be managing a pool hall in Wash-
ington, D.C.
She received her first professional vocal
training at the age of five, from James Earle
Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden
choir, at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los
Angeles.
James’s family moved to San Francisco in
1950, and James soon teamed up with two
other girls to form a doo-wop singing group.
When the girls were 14 years old, band lead-
er Johnny Otis had them audition; they sang
an answer to Han