![]() Nonetheless, Otis took the group under his wing, helping them sign to Modern Records and changing their name from the Creolettes to the Peaches and gave the singer her stage name reversing Jamesetta into Etta James. Another story came that Otis spotted the group performing at a Los Angeles nightclub and sought them to record his "answer song" to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie". ![]() Stories on how they met vary including Otis' version in which James had come to his hotel after one of his performances in the city and persuaded him to audition her. The 14-year-old girl met musician Johnny Otis. Within a couple of years, James began listening to doo-wop and was inspired to form a girl group, called the Creolettes (due to the members' light skinned complexions). In 1950, Mama Lu died, and James' real mother took her to the Fillmore District, San Francisco. As she was a bed-wetter, and often soaked with her own urine on these occasions, the trauma of being forced to sing meant she had a lifelong reluctance to sing on demand. During drunken poker games at home, he would often wake James up in the early hours of the morning and force her through beatings to sing for his friends. She became a popular singing attraction at the church, and Sarge tried to pressure the church into paying him money for her singing, but they refused. Paul Baptist Church in south central Los Angeles. James 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. James referred to her mother as "the Mystery Lady". Due to her mother being often absent from their Watts apartment, conducting relationships with various men, James lived with a series of foster parents, most notably "Sarge" and "Mama" Lu. James speculated that her father was the pool player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and met him briefly in 1987. Jamesetta Hawkins was born on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Hawkins, who was only 14 at the time. Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists 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 in both 19. James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She faced a number of personal problems, including drug addiction, before making a musical resurgence in the late 1980s with the album The Seven Year Itch. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "Roll With Me, Henry", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind" for which she wrote the lyrics. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins Janu– January 20, 2012) was an American singer.
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