Soul singer Etta James dies after battle with leukaemia

ETTA JAMES, the soul singer whose passionate vocals anchored many hits and made the yearning ballad At Last an anthem for weddings, ads and even US President Barack Obama, died yesterday. She was 73.

James had been suffering from dementia and kidney problems, and was battling leukaemia. In December 2011, her physician announced that her leukaemia was terminal, and asked for prayers for the singer.

During her illness, her husband Artis Mills and her two sons fought bitterly over control of her $1 million (€770,000) estate.

James died at Riverside Community Hospital, Los Angeles, with her husband and sons at her side, her manager, Lupe De Leon, said.

“It’s a tremendous loss for her fans around the world,” he said. “She’ll be missed. A great American singer. Her music defied category.”

James scored her first hit when she was just a teenager with the suggestive Roll With Me, Henry. Over the years, she would notch many more, carving a niche for herself with her husky, soulful voice and her sassy attitude.

But it was her jazz-inflected rendition of At Last that would come to define her and make her legendary. The song was a remake of a 1941 standard. James’ version became the new standard.

Over the decades, countless brides have used it as their song down the aisle, and it has been featured in car ads and films like American Pie. Obama and his first lady also danced to At Last at his inauguration ball.

But the tender, sweet song belied the turmoil that James — born Jamesette Hawkins in Los Angeles — would endure for much of her life. Her mother — whom she described in her 1995 autobiography Rage to Survive as a scam artist, a substance abuser and unstable — was a fleeting presence in her life.

James stood out in her church choir and became so well known that Hollywood stars came to see her perform.

Rhythm and blues soon lured her away from the church, and she found herself drawn to the grittiness of the music.

“My mother always wanted me to be a jazz singer, but I always wanted to be raunchy,” she recalled in her book.

After getting discovered while singing on San Francisco street corners in the early 1950s, she battled drug addiction and weight problems as her fame grew.

James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, captured a Grammy in 2003 for best contemporary blues album for Let’s Roll; another in 2004 for best traditional blues album for Blues to the Bone; and a third for best jazz vocal performance for 1994’s Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.

She was also awarded a special Grammy in 2003 for lifetime achievement and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.