At Rest

Or
At Last
(An epitaphany shared with Monty, and probably everyone else on this mailing list)
Etta James, starter of first dances at weddings across the country, has died of complications from leukemia at the age of 73. Riding a powerful voice into the Rock and Roll, Blues and Rockabilly Halls of Fame, scored her signature hit “At Last,” ironically when she was still a fresh-faced 22-year old pop singer. At Lasting fame eluded her, as she battled addictions to heroin, cocaine, painkillers and ham hocks from the 1960s through the 1980s. Filling in more of her blues background, she had no idea who her father was, but her mother told her he was renowned pool player Minnesota Fats, and she as raised by often abusive friends and foster parents until she was 12. She began to get her just due in the 1990s, scoring a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance, her first of 4, including 2003’s lifetime achievement award. James was played by Beyonce in Cadillac Records, a fictionalized account of Chess Records, and Beyonce was asked to perform her cover of At Last at President Obama’s inaugural. James later threatened to kick Beyonce’s ass. She later explained she was joking. Her son later explained she had Alzheimer’s, the first indication of her rapid health downturn.