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January 26, 2012

Etta James
Etta James. Her funeral will held on Saturday.

Etta James

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 28, in Gardena, Calif., for singer Etta James, who died Jan. 20.

Ms. James had been suffering from terminal leukemia, kidney disease, hepatitis C and dementia.  She was 73.

Before the funeral, which will be private, there will be a public viewing of Ms. James. Rev. Al Sharpton will preside over the funeral. 

Ms. James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on Jan. 25, 1938, in Los Angeles. Her mother, Dorothy Hawkins, was just 14 years old when she gave birth to her daughter. Her father was believed to have been Minnesota Fats, the legendary pool player, who was portrayed in the 1961 movie The Hustler, starring Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman. Gleason played Minnesota Fats.

In 1987, Ms. James met the real Minnesota Fats, Rudolph Walter Wanderone. She asked Wanderone if he was her father, but he refused to confirm or deny her paternity, according to Ms. James 1987 biography Rage to Survive.
Ms. James had a successful yet tortured career.  She began singing professionally at 14 years old after having been discovered by blues star Johnny Otis.

Otis arranged for Ms. James and some of her friends to record under the name The Peaches. The group recorded its first song in 1955. Ms. James soon left The Peaches and began touring with Otis Redding in the 1950s. In 1961, she recorded "At Last," which made her eternally famous. 

Throughout much of career Ms. James was addicted to heroin and spent stints in drug rehab.
 
Her talent, however, could not be denied. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and she won three Grammys for her work, including the 1994 album, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday. In 2003, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Ms. James released her last album, The Dreamer, in 2011.

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