Imaginary Wish List: Etta James
Despite battling a grave drug addiction, American singer Etta James (born Jamesetta Hawkins) released multiple hit singles and albums, and won four Grammys throughout her varied career. Her style of singing was hard to categorize: she started out as a gospel prodigy, and moved onto jazz, blues and pop, constantly displaying a dextrous ability to make each genre work for her unmistakably earthy voice. Signed to Chess Records in 1960—alongside Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters—James quickly established herself as the label’s first major female star with a string of hits that very same year. Among her best-known songs are “At Last”, “I’d Rather Go Blind” and “A Sunday Kind Of Love”, which have since been reimagined by various artists, such as Beyoncé and Cyndi Lauper. Of her art, Etta James famously told The Los Angeles Times in 1992: “A lot of people think the blues is depressing, but that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t stand to listen to the blues, they’ve got to be phonies.” In honour of Etta James’s soulful talent, here’s what we imagine she might pick to wear on stage now.
