A few years ago, I thought, I'll never make it. I started to go to the doctor to help me lose weight.
Etta James

And as I started reaching deeper I realized that most of the blues of that day was done by men. Women just didn't have the nerve.
Etta James

At the same time I was being given a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
Etta James

Bobby Womack is always very real, both with his music and as a person.
Etta James

But even so, I still get nervous before I go onstage.
Etta James

I am so happy that I am alive and can walk.
Etta James

I don't care who's playing. Even if it's my favorite artist, I'm probably not gonna go and see him.
Etta James

I figured I could do It's A Man's Man's Man's World, because I believe it's the truth.
Etta James

I like to shop, but I don't like to go out to dances.
Etta James

I sing the songs that people need to hear.
Etta James


I talked to the record company about what I had in mind. They said they wanted something lush. I figured the best thing to do was let them hear what I had in mind.
Etta James

I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.
Etta James

I'm not a braggart, but when I was a little girl people used to come from all over Hollywood to hear me sing.
Etta James

It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.
Etta James

It's the same thing now. When I go onstage the young people scream and holler as much as the older generation.
Etta James

Johnny Guitar... just one of my favorite singers of all time. I met him when we were both on the road with Johnny Otis in the '50s when I was a teenager. We traveled the country in a car together.I would hear him sing every night.
Etta James

Most of the songs I sing have that blues feeling in it. They have that sorry feeling. And I don't know what I'm sorry about. I don't.
Etta James

My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that.
Etta James

My mother always wanted me to be glamorous. When I thought about that, it really fired me up, and once I lost all those pounds, I started to feel really good about myself.
Etta James

My mother was a jazz fanatic and she wanted me to play the piano so I could play jazz tunes. I wish I had learned but I was too busy getting into trouble!
Etta James