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LOS ANGELES: Pioneering US blues and soul singer Etta James, best known for her 1960 hit “At Last,” died Friday from leukemia, her manager said. She was 73.
James, who flitted effortlessly from jazz, pop and love ballads to feisty R&B and who plunged into drug addiction before resurrecting her career to win six Grammys, died at a hospital in Riverside, California.
“Her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always,” Lupe De Leon said in a statement, calling the soulful singer “a true original who could sing it all.”” Cause of death was complications from leukemia.
Her husband Artis Mills and sons Donto James and Sametto James were by her side. This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and her fans around the world,” he added.
Born Jamesetta Hawkins, James has won four Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2003.
She is also known for her soulful rendition of such songs as “I'd Rather Go Blind” and “All I Could Do Was Cry.””At Last” was sung by R&B diva Beyonce when she serenaded new US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their first dance on inauguration night in January 2009.
Written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren, “At Last” first became a hit for Glenn Miller and his orchestra and was covered by Nat King Cole before being adopted by James in 1960.
