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THE HOME GOING SERVICES FOR LADY ETTA
JAMES!
Hundreds of mourners gathered at City of Refuge church
in Gardena, south of downtown Los Angeles Saturday to remember singer Etta
James, a woman who triumphed against all odds to break down cultural and musical
barriers in a style that was unfailingly honest.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at City of Refuge church in
Gardena, south of downtown Los Angeles Saturday to remember singer Etta James, a
woman who triumphed against all odds to break down cultural and musical barriers
in a style that was unfailingly honest. During a two-hour service that featured
performances by Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera,
The Rev. Al Sharpton
eulogized Etta as a woman who rose from a tough childhood and poured her pain
into her music.”People need to understand that
when they hear the music Etta James sang, she sang the times that she lived,”
Rev. Sharpton said.
Rev. Sharpton opened his remarks by reading a statement
from President Obama” “Etta will be remembered
for her legendary voice and her contributions to our nation’s musical heritage,”
Obama’s statement read. “I know she will be sorely missed by all those who knew
and loved her.”
Etta's Husband Artis Mill is being comforted by Rep Waters.
Rev. Sharpton, who met Etta James when he was an
up-and-coming preacher said, “Etta should be remembered for blazing a trail for
the entertainers who followed her. Etta was the one that brought class —
generations behind will try but never quite have the strut and swagger and
talent of Etta James,” he said.
In his eulogy, Rev. Sharpton described Etta’s incredible
rise from poverty and addiction. “The genius of Etta James is she flipped the script,” Rev.
Sharpton said, alluding to her struggles with addiction, which she eventually
overcame. She waited until she turned her pain into power,” he said, adding that
it turned her story away from being a tragic one into one of triumph. At last
you (Etta) can get the gratitude of the savior now! Go on home Etta! Get your
reward now! You beat them Etta! You won Etta! Get your reward Etta! At last! At
last! At last!”
Stevie Wonder performed with a church choir, singing
“Shelter in the Rain,” “The Lord’s Prayer,” and playing a harmonica solo. “Out
of all the singers that I’ve ever heard, she was the one that cut right to my
soul and spoke to me,” Christina Aguilera told the audience, before giving a
performance of “At Last.”
See Christina's Performance
here;
U.S. Rep Maxine Waters was also there to offer some words
of remembrance. “Etta is special to me and
for me, because she represents the life, the triumphs, the tribulations of a lot
of black women all over this world,” Waters said. “It does not matter who sang
At Last before or after Etta. It does not matter when it was sung, or where it
was sung. ‘At Last’ was branded by Etta, the raunchy diva – that’s her signature
and we will always remember her.”
Donto James paid tribute to his mother saying, “She was feisty, very feisty,” he said with a knowing
smile. He also spoke of her heart and how she would welcome friends of both him
and his brother, Sametto, and give them jobs. “She would just pick you,” he
said. “Mama, I love you,” he said, choking up. “When I get to the gates, can you just please be there for
me?” he asked.
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