Etta James

782 Words2 Pages

Ashley Hay
Introduction to American Music
Donnie Norton
3/31/14

Throughout History, there have been many different varieties of music performed. There have also been several American Artists who have made important contributions towards the development of American Music. Many artists out there have made a huge impact not only towards the development of American music but to people as well. Those of which have been a big inspiration to America’s youth throughout this paper, I will focus solely on the life of Etta James.
Etta James, originally “JamesEtta” Hawkins,was born on January 25th 1938 in Los Angeles California. Her mother’s name was Dorothy Hawkins. She was an African American. (Rolling Stone Magazine.) Etta James was raised by her mother. She grew up not knowing who her father was. It was said at one time that Rudolf Walter Wanderon Jr. also known as “Minnesota Fats” an American professional billiards player, was said to be her father. Throughout some of her childhood. Etta was mostly raised by some of her friends, and relatives, that lived close to her in the nearby neighborhood. Everyone loved Etta. Etta started performing at the young age of five. At this age, Etta known as a gospel prodigy. She grew up attending church. The first time she had ever sung was actually in the choir of the church she attended. When she was twelve, she began singing in a trio. When Etta was fifteen years old she was what some might call a rebel child. She began ditching school just to hang out with friends and drink because she thought that she could be independent.
At the age of sixteen Etta was kicked out of her high school. In 1954 Etta began recording one of her hit songs titled “The Wall flower”. 1955 is the year Etta’s s...

... middle of paper ...

...er she would sing you could just hear all the pain that she had in her voice. She had every reason to feel pain. She went through a lot of hard times. She struggled throughout most of her life, not only with drugs, but with other things as well. One really important thing that Etta did was change the way people looked at blacks. Her songs were so powerful that people didn’t care what the color of her skin was because she spoke truth, and didn’t care what people thought. When Etta became managed by Johnny Otis “The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues” her motivation to bring segregation to an end began. Etta was such a powerful singer that her music influenced the creation of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
Etta has one so many awards for her outstanding achievements. She was inducted into the hall of fame in 1993. She has influence so many people throughout the world.

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