Filed under: Celebrity Finances, News
From The Daily Beast:
The bedridden blues icon is too sick to speak up as her son and husband battle over her estate in court. Christine Pelisek reports on the sordid drama.
Once known for her feisty, outspoken riffs on stage, R & B icon
Etta James can't speak up about the vicious legal battle escalating between her husband and son over control of her savings.
Known for her signature catalogue of songs-"At Last," "I'd Rather Go Blind," and "Call My Name"-the 73-year-old songbird suffers from dementia, leukemia, and numerous other ailments and is now bedridden at her ranch-style home in Riverside County, California.
"She is not really capable of making any rational decisions at this point," said James' court-appointed attorney Dennis Sandoval.
In fact, her ability to make decisions is at the heart of the family saga. Her son, Donto James, claims he has power of attorney over his mother's affairs while her husband, Artis Mills, says she was in no condition to give him that sort of power. James' erratic behavior at the time-which ranged from dozens of performances to strange comments and cancellations-have made this "he said, he said" all that much more difficult to decipher.
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Female Power Belters
Sisters With Voices: 30 Power Belters to Know
There are singers and there are those who can "sang." We've compiled a list of some of the most soulful, sing-it-from-your-gut vocalists in black music history. Each of these beloved entertainers has garnered fan followings not for their catchy hooks or gimmicky images, but for their sheer talent and song styling. Blackvoices.com gives you 'Sisters with Voices: 30 Power Belters To Know.'
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BlackVoices.com
Female Power Belters
Sisters With Voices: 30 Power Belters to Know
There are singers and there are those who can "sang." We've compiled a list of some of the most soulful, sing-it-from-your-gut vocalists in black music history. Each of these beloved entertainers has garnered fan followings not for their catchy hooks or gimmicky images, but for their sheer talent and song styling. Blackvoices.com gives you 'Sisters with Voices: 30 Power Belters To Know.'
Female Power Belters
Alyson Williams
Real Name: Alyson Williams
Hometown: New York City
Beginnings: She got her start singing background for the likes of Bobby Brown and Melba Moore before becoming the first female R&B singer artist to sign with Def Jam Records.
Most Popular Song: Williams is best known for the Quiet Storm staple 'Just Call My Name,' which instantly became a radio classic and made it to No. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart.
Recent Business: Williams, who continues to perform around the country, released the 2004 album 'It's About Time' independently.
Factoid: At one time, she was a member of the singing group, High Fashion, which also featured powerhouse singer Meli'sa Morgan.
Female Power Belters
Angela Winbush
Real Name: Angela Winbush
Hometown: St. Louis
Beginnings: After singing background vocals for Stevie Wonder, Winbush and singer Rene Moore joined forces to form the group Rene & Angela. In addition to having their own popular 1980s singles -- 'My First Love' and 'I Love You More' -- they also produced and wrote songs for Janet Jackson and Stephanie Mills.
Most Popular Song: 'Run to Me' was the second single from Winbush's solo debut, 'Sharp,' and the video was choreographed by Paula Abdul.
Recent Business: Since being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003, Winbush has been relatively low key, but she did recenlty perform her hit song 'Angel' on 'The Mo'Nique Show.'
Factoid: Winbush's music has been sampled by several artists, including The Notorious B.I.G. and Foxy Brown, and her notable ballad 'My First Love' was covered by Avant and KeKe Wyatt.
Female Power Belters
Angie Stone
Real Name: Angela Laverne Brown
Hometown: Columbia, S.C.
Beginnings: Stone got her start as a member of the Sequence, the first female rap group to hit the charts.
Most Popular Song: 'No More Rain (In This Cloud),' which samples Gladys Knight & the Pips' 'Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)' has been Stone's most loved song.
Recent Business: Stone released her fifth studio album ,'Unexpected,' in 2009.
Factoid: Stone, who has a child with R&B crooner D'Angelo, made her feature film debut in 'The Fighting Temptations,' which starred Beyonce Knowles.
Female Power Belters
Aretha Franklin
Real Name: Aretha Louise Franklin
Hometown: Memphis
Beginnings: The Queen of Soul released a gospel album at 14, and after becoming a teenage mother, returned to the music scene to record pop music.
Most Popular Song: 'Respect' might have been originally recorded by Otis Redding, but Franklin's version of the song topped the R&B and pop charts and cemented her as a superstar.
Recent Business: The Presidential Metal of Freedom honoree has been heralded as a national treasure and was asked by President Barack Obama to perform 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee' at his inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, 2009.
Factoid: The 18-time Grammy Award winner holds the record for most awards for best female R&B vocal performance, with 11 to her name, including nine consecutive awards from 1968 to 1975.
Female Power Belters
Chaka Khan
Real Name: Yvette Marie Stevens
Hometown: Chicago
Beginnings: With a little songwriting help from Stevie Wonder, Khan made a name for herself as the lead singer of the funk group Rufus in the 1970s.
Most Popular Song: The 1975 single 'Tell Me Something Good' earned Rufus a Grammy and also peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Pop charts.
Recent Business: Khan released her last album, called 'Funk This,'in 2007. Just one year later, she starred in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical 'The Color Purple' as Sophia, opposite gospel singer Bebe Winans.
Factoid: Whitney Houston famously covered the 10-time Grammy Award winner's No. 1 disco track 'I'm Every Woman,' which was written by Ashford and Simpson. Khan made a cameo in the video.
Female Power Belters
Cissy Houston
Real Name: Emily "Sissy" Drinkard Houston
Hometown: Newark, N.J.<
Beginnings: Cissy got her start as a background singer for Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin.
Most Popular Song: In 1979, Houston had a big disco hit with 'Think it Over.'
Recent Business: Houston teamed up with her famous daughter, Whitney, and niece Dionne Warwick for the 2006 song 'Family First,' which appeared on the soundtrack to 'Daddy's Little Girls.'
Factoid: Unbeknown to many, Houston was featured, uncredited, as a background singer on the 1978 film 'The Wiz.'
Female Power Belters
Deborah Cox
Real Name: Deborah Cox
Hometown: Toronto
Beginnings: Cox got her start backing fellow Canadian Celine Dion for eight months before being signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis in 1995.
Most Popular Song: The 1998 song 'Nobody's Supposed to Be Here' held the record for nearly eight years as the longerst-running No. 1 Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Single by remaining on the chart for a record 14 weeks.
Recent Business: Cox has plans to team up with Kelly Price and Tamia to form a super group called The Queen Project. The plan to release an album this year.
Factoid: In 2004, following Tony winner Heather Headley's exit, Cox appeared on Broadway in the title role of the Elton John musical 'Aida.'
Female Power Belters
Dee Dee Warwick
Real Name: Delia Mae Warwick
Hometown: Newark, N.J.
Beginnings: Along with her sister Dionne and their aunt Cissy Houston Warwick formed the gospel trio The Gospelaires in the late '50s.
Most Popular Song: 'I Want to Be with You' from the Broadway show 'Golden Boy' was a big hit for Warwick.
Recent Business: On Oct. 18, 2008, at the age of 63, Warwick died from failing health related to her long-time drug addiction.
Factoid: Warwick first recorded 'You're No Good' in 1963, a song later recorded by Betty Everett and made popular by Linda Ronstadt in 1975.
Female Power Belters
Dionne Warwick
Real Name: Marie Dionne Warrick
Hometown: East Orange, N.J.
Beginnings: In 1958, Warwick teamed up with her sisters Dee Dee, Myrna Utley, and Carol Slade to form The Gospelaires. The group won the Apollo Theatre Amateur Night competition, their very-first performance together, which led to Warwick's work as a session singer for everyone from Dinah Washington to The Drifters.
Most Popular Song: The Bacharach/David-penned 'Walk On By' became Warwick's first international hit in April of 1964. The song went on to sell 1 million copies.
Recent Business: The Goodwill Ambassador's last record, 'Why We Sing', was released in 2008 and featured her late sister Dee Dee.
Factoid: In 1985, Warwick appeared on two charity songs, the four-times platinum 'We Are the World' and the AmFAR benefit single 'That's What Friends are For.'
Female Power Belters
The rift began last November when Mills, James' husband of 41 years and tour manager, filed a petition to gain access to three of the singer's bank accounts, estimated to total around $1 million. He said he needed to pay for her business affairs and mounting medical bills. Mills says he spends around $30,000 a month for private medical care, which includes two full-time nurses and a round-the-clock doctor.
The following month, James' son Donto, a drummer in his mother's band, filed legal papers asking the court to grant him conservatorship of his mother's estate. He also asked that the court appoint an independent administrator to handle her finances. There has been no mention of a living will.
Donto, who is Mills' stepson, also questioned whether his mother is getting proper care by her $20,000-a-month live-in doctor, Dr. Elaine James.
"There are a lot of allegations flying everywhere," said Sandoval.
Discovered in 1954, James, who was born Jamesetta Hawkins, became one of the most influential singers of her time, known for her bluesy riffs and slow burning melodies. Her rise to fame was hampered by a debilitating heroin addiction, stints in rehab, and troubles with the law.
By the late 1980s, the saucy and self-possessed singer had kicked her drug habit and hired a new manager, Lupe De Leon. James' career flourished in the 1990s under his management. She won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1994. But by the late 1990s, the 5'3" singer's weight, which topped 400 pounds, began to prevent her from performing.
In 2001, she underwent gastric bypass surgery at a clinic run by Hollywood weight-loss surgeon Dr. Mathias Fobi, whose patients include Roseanne Barr and American Idol judge Randy Jackson.
It was at Fobi's clinic where Etta James met Elaine James, a bariatric surgeon. According to the doctor, the singer had difficulty eating and became intermittently anorexic. James, who is no relation, regularly dropped by the singer's house in Riverside to bring her chicken soup.
For the singer, who crooned about heartache and redemption and inspired generations of singers, her life and care is now left up to the courts to decide.
"She wouldn't eat or drink," said James about the singer she affectionately calls "Grandma." Over the years, James visited the singer and even prepared a New Year's Eve dinner for the singer and her husband.
Those years were filled with both bouts of sickness and creativity.
Read page two on The Daily Beast: The War Over Etta James' Fortune
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