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My mother always wanted me to be a jazz singer, but I always wanted to be raunchy.
Etta James
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Etta James
Age: 73 †
Born: 1938
Born: January 25
Died: 2012
Died: January 20
Jazz Musician
Musician
Recording Artist
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
LA
California
Jamesetta Hawkins
Miss Peaches
Singers
Jazz
Mother
Wanted
Always
Raunchy
Singer
More quotes by Etta James
Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude.
Etta James
When I'm performing for the people, I am me, then. I am that little girl who, when she was five years old, used to sing at church. Or I'm that 15-year-old young lady who wanted to be grown and wanted to sing and couldn't wait to be smokin' a cigarette, you know?
Etta James
When Malcolm X was assassinated I was working at the Apollo. They brought his body to the Unity Funeral Home, which was around the corner.
Etta James
What happens is, when I perform, I'm somewhere else. I go back in time and get in touch with who I really am. I forget my troubles, my worries.
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
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
I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.
Etta James
Long as I was riding in a big Cadillac and dressed nice and had plenty of food, that's all I cared about.
Etta James
All the things I used to like - cookies, ice cream, gumbo - I don't like anymore.
Etta James
A lot of people think the blues is depressing but that's not the blues I'm singing. When I'm singing blues, I singing life. People can't stand to listen to the blues, they've got to be phonies.
Etta James
I really turned into, you know, the real street kid. I was kind of like a runaway, but I had a mother, you know what I mean, and I had a place to stay.
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'm not starry eyed, and I'm not money crazy.
Etta James
It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.
Etta James
When I look out at the people and they look at me and they're smiling, then I know that I'm loved. That is the time when I have no worries, no problems.
Etta James
It feels so good to be happy.
Etta James
I want a Sunday kind of love A love to last past Saturday night And I’d like to know it’s more than love at first sight
Etta James
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
I've gone through so much in my life. I should have been dead a long time ago, but I am still here, and I'm the happiest I've ever been.
Etta James
I like to shop, but I don't like to go out to dances.
Etta James