Etta James has left the building.

born: Jamesetta Hawkins  25th January 1938 – died: 20th January 2012

I’m not the 1st to say it, but Etta ‘Miss Peaches’ James was a major influence on me. I, like many other female vocalists, would love to open my mouth and have Etta’s voice come out. I read her autobiography a few years ago, and loved it… For it’s simplicity, honesty, rawness and tales of life on the road and stage. She met everyone, performed with everyone, got high with a fair few, battled with many (recently with Beyoncé about the song she made famous, “At Last”). I have a huge respect for her that still drives me to sing better.

I don’t have any major words of wisdom, but I did read a nice quote on You Tube, under a video for “I Would Rather Go Blind” (I can’t find it now because of all the tributes posted since, but it went something like…):

“Damn, those angels up in heaven will be pissed that there’s someone up there now who can sing much better than them!”