“I thought you had to be bourgeois to do that. I was a sloppy kid, wanted to be just wild. I think it took me maturing.”
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Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins, known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as the Chitlin' Circuit. She sang in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll and soul and gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower" (1955), "At…
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entertainment · American blues singer (1938–2012) · singer · singer-songwriter · jazz musician · recording artist · musician · jazz singer · also Etta James, Miss Peaches, Jamesetta Hawkins, James
Born 25 January 1938 · Died 20 January 2012 · Q182725
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2026· 5 entries
“They were all younger than I was. I remember on Saturdays, they would play rock”
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“no business singing my song that I”
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American Songwriter: Remember When Etta James Covered a Sonny & Cher Classic?
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AOL: Renaissance takes Etta James production to Mansfield Brickyard
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2025· 1 entry
Forbes: Etta James Charts A New No. 1 Album
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2024· 2 entries
Yahoo: Etta James Songs: 14 of the Legend’s Most Impressive Classics
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Released album “Late Night Etta James”.
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2020· 1 entry
James was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame
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2012· 21 entries
The Guardian: Etta James remembered by Reverend Al Sharpton
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The Daily Beast: Etta James’s Son Donto Says Addiction Was Part of Famed Singer’s Life
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Released album “At Last! Plus the Second Time Around”.
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Released album “The Complete Private Music Blues, Rock 'N' Soul Albums Collection”.
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Released album “Songbird - The Very Best of Etta James”.
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The Guardian: Etta James funeral: Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera pay tribute
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Released album “Original Album Classics”.
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The Guardian: Etta James: 'I was like a punker … I'd spit in a minute' – a classic interview from the vaults
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Released album “At Last: The Best of Etta James”.
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Page Six: Beyoncé on Etta James: ‘She taught me so much about myself’
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The Guardian: Etta James – a life in pictures
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The Guardian: Etta James - famous fans pay tribute on Twitter
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The Guardian: Etta James: 10 classic performances
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The Guardian: Etta James, blues icon, dies aged 73
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The Guardian: Etta James obituary
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E!: Beyoncé Pays Tribute to "Fearless" Etta James
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YourTango: Rest In Peace: 5 Love Lessons From Etta James
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Died 2012-01-20.
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At age 73, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California
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Released album “I Just Want to Make Love to You”.
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Released album “The Very Best of Etta James”.
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2011· 8 entries
Released album “The Dreamer”.
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Released album “Heart & Soul: A Retrospective”.
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Released album “The Essential Modern Records Collection”.
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Released album “Who's Blue? Rare Chess Recordings of the 60s and 70s”.
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The Guardian: Etta James to undergo court-ordered medical exam
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The Guardian: Etta James battling leukaemia while family fight over money
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When the Swedish DJ Avicii achieved substantial chart success with the song "Levels", which samples her 1962 song "Something's Got a Hold on Me"
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James was diagnosed with leukemia
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2010· 5 entries
Released album “Icon”.
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Released album “The Essential”.
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The Guardian: Singer Etta James battling Alzheimer's disease, says son
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The Guardian: Etta James: blues powerhouse
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James received treatment for a dependency on painkillers
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2009· 5 entries
Released album “Saga All Stars: Good Rockin’ Daddy / Selected Singles 1954–1956”.
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Released album “Playlist: The Very Best of Etta James”.
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Released album “From the Heart”.
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Released album “The Inspirational Collection”.
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Released album “Live and in the Studio”.
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2008· 3 entries
James was portrayed by singer Beyoncé in the film Cadillac Records, a fictional account of Chess Records, James's label for 18 years, about how label founder and producer Leonard Chess helped the careers of James and oth
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Released album “Love Songs”.
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Had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
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2007· 2 entries
Released album “Jazz”.
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Released album “Gold”.
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2006· 4 entries
Released album “All the Way”.
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Released album “The Definitive Collection”.
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Released album “R&B Soul”.
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James received the Billboard R&B Founders Award
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2005· 7 entries
Released album “Miss Etta James: The Complete Modern and Kent Recordings”.
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Released album “The Very Best of Etta James: The Chess Singles”.
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Released album “The Best of the Modern Years”.
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Released album “Gospel”.
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Released album “Enduring Soul”.
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James was inducted into Hollywood's Rockwalk
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Won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album
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2004· 2 entries
Rolling Stone magazine ranked her number 62 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time
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Released album “Blues to the Bone”.
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2003· 7 entries
Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2003).
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Released album “Let's Roll”.
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Was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
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Released album “Classic Masters”.
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Received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
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And Blues to the Bone (Best Traditional Blues Album) in 2004
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James received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Blvd
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2002· 3 entries
Released album “Greatest Gospel Hits, Volume 2”.
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Released album “The Gospel Soul of Etta James”.
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Released album “Greatest Gospel Hits, Volume 1”.
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2001· 5 entries
Released album “Blue Gardenia”.
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Released album “Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions”.
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Was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame
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Was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the latter for her contributions to the development of both rock and roll and rockabilly
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James was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
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2000· 2 entries
Released album “Matriarch of the Blues”.
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Released album “The Chess Box”.
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1999· 3 entries
Released album “20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Etta James”.
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And "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)" in 2008
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Released album “The Heart of a Woman”.
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1998· 3 entries
Released album “12 Songs of Christmas”.
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Released album “Life, Love & The Blues”.
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Released album “Back 2 Back”.
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1997· 2 entries
Released album “Love’s Been Rough on Me”.
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Released album “Her Best”.
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1996· 2 entries
Released album “The Genuine Article: The Best of Etta James”.
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Released album “I Got You Babe”.
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1995· 4 entries
Released album “Time After Time”.
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Released album “These Foolish Things”.
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When she was awarded Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the album Mystery Lady, which consisted of covers of Billie Holiday songs
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Her autobiography, Rage to Survive, co-written with David Ritz, was published
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1994· 3 entries
Released album “Soul Summit”.
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Released album “Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday”.
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“s Mystery Lady, also honored her mother, who loved both Holiday and jazz. She said it helped make peace with the woman she idolized, and who had abandoned her. It”
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1993· 7 entries
Awarded Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1993).
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The Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001
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Released album “The Soulful Miss Peaches”.
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And Sametto played bass guitar circa 2003, among other performances and tours
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Released album “How Strong Is a Woman: The Island Sessions”.
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And recorded a Billie Holiday tribute album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday
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James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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1992· 4 entries
Released album “The Right Time”.
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Released album “I’d Rather Go Blind”.
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Recorded the album The Right Time, produced by Jerry Wexler for Elektra Records
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Released album “My Greatest Songs”.
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1991· 3 entries
Released album “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”.
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Released album “Back in Blues”.
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Released album “At Last”.
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1990· 2 entries
Released album “The Best of Etta James”.
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Released album “Stickin’ to My Guns”.
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1989· 6 entries
“When I sing for myself, I probably sing for anyone who has any kind of hurt, any kind of bad feelings, good feelings, ups and downs, highs and lows, that kind of thing,”
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Released album “Tell Mama, Volume 1”.
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James was filmed in a concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles with Joe Walsh and Albert Collins for the film Jazzvisions: Jump the Blues Away
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James received over 30 awards and recognitions from eight different organizations, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences which organizes the Grammys
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The newly formed Rhythm and Blues Foundation included James in their first Pioneer Awards for artists whose "lifelong contributions have been instrumental in the development of Rhythm & Blues music"
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Signed with Island Records and with them released the albums Seven Year Itch and Stickin' to My Guns, both of which were produced by Barry Beckett and recorded at FAME Studios
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1988· 5 entries
Released album “Seven Year Itch”.
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Released album “Tell Mama”.
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Released album “The Sweetest Peaches - Part One (1960-1966)”.
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Released album “The Sweetest Peaches, Part 2 (1967-1975)”.
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Released album “At Her Best”.
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1987· 2 entries
Released album “R&B Dynamite”.
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Performed "Rock and Roll Music" with Chuck Berry in the documentary film Hail
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1984· 1 entry
Contacted David Wolper and asked to perform in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics, at which she sang "When the Saints Go Marching In"
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1983· 1 entry
Released album “Her Greatest Sides, Volume One”.
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1982· 1 entry
Released album “Etta James / The Leaves (La grande storia del rock)”.
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1980· 1 entry
Released album “Changes”.
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1978· 1 entry
Released album “Deep in the Night”.
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1976· 1 entry
Released album “Etta Is Betta Than Evvah!”.
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1975· 1 entry
James opened for comedian Richard Pryor at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles
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1974· 3 entries
Though, like '73's Etta James before it, the album was also critically acclaimed
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Released album “Come a Little Closer”.
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Was sentenced to drug treatment instead of prison
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1973· 4 entries
Released album “Tuff Lover”.
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Released album “Etta James”.
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James was arrested for possession of heroin
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With production from the famed rock producer Gabriel Mekler, who had worked with Steppenwolf and Janis Joplin
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1970· 2 entries
Released album “Etta James Sings Funk”.
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Released album “Losers Weepers”.
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1969· 1 entry
Spent 10 days in jail for violating her probation
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1967· 1 entry
And reemerged with more gutsy R&B numbers thanks to her recording at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
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1966· 2 entries
Released album “Call My Name”.
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Was arrested for writing bad checks; she was placed on probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine
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1965· 1 entry
Released album “Queen of Soul”.
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1963· 2 entries
Released album “Top Ten”.
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Had another major hit with "Pushover" and released the live album Etta James Rocks the House, recorded at the New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee
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1962· 3 entries
Released album “Etta James Sings for Lovers”.
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“Something's Got a Hold on Me”
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Released album “Twist With Etta James”.
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1961· 3 entries
Released album “The Essential Etta James”.
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Released album “Miss Etta James”.
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Released album “The Second Time Around”.
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1960· 3 entries
Released album “At Last!”.
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James broke through as a traditional pop-styled singer, covering jazz and pop music standards on her debut album, At Last
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Signed a contract with Chess Records instead, with which she would go on to become one of the label's earliest stars
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1954· 2 entries
James recorded and was credited as co-author for "The Wallflower" (a title change to the aforementioned song, "Work with Me, Annie"), which was released in early 1955
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James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as the Chitlin' Circuit
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1950· 1 entry
Mama Lu died, and James's biological mother took her to the Fillmore district of San Francisco
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1938· 2 entries
In Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Hawkins, who was 14 at the time
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Born 1938-01-25.
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