by Cicely Richard

Created on: January 22, 2012   Last Updated: January 23, 2012

Whether you know the name or not, legendary blues singer and Grammy winner Etta James cemented her place in music history with her soulful rendition of “At Last.” Though originally written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical movie “Orchestra Wives,” Etta James’ 1960 adaptation became cemented in the minds of the public. Sadly, her voice was silenced on January 20, 2012.

CNN.com reported that the blues singer died after a long struggle with leukemia at the age of 73.

Etta James’ life was marked with professional highs mixed with personal lows one would expect from a blues singer. She was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938 in Los Angeles, California, to 14-year-old Dorothy Hawkins. Though she never knew the true identity of her father, legend has it that he was possibly famous pool shark Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone. James’ mother, though, had a lot of partners at the time.

James’ voice captivated people at an early age, and she began singing in the Echoes of Eden choir at St. Paul Baptist Church. At five years old, she sang on a local radio station. She moved to San Francisco at 12 years old, where she put together an all-girl trio. She later met bandleader Johnny Otis. Incidentally, Otis died a few days before James on January 17, 2012, at the age of 90.

In the 1950s, she signed a contract with Modern Records, and she changed her named to Etta James. Her first major hit, which she also co-wrote as a song, was originally entitled “Roll with Me, Henry.” They changed the name of the song to “Dance with me, Henry,” then to “The Wallflower” because of the sexual connotation of the song. In 1955, the song topped the R&B chart for four weeks. She continued touring with Otis and other musicians throughout the late 50s.

In the early 1960s, James singed with Chicago-based Chess Records, where she began to express herself as a modern blues singer and a singer of R&B ballads. Producer Ralph Bass and singer Harvey Fuqua mentored the young singer who was still in her early 20’s. At Chess Records, James sang songs that crossed over to the pop charts, including “All I Could Do Was Cry,” “My Dearest Darling,” “Don’t Cry, Baby,” and her signature hit “At Last.”

Her personal life and her professional life intersected, as she also dated her mentor, Harvey Fuqua, for a time. She also

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