Throwback Thursday!

Every Thursday WERS goes back to the past and celebrates an artist by playing a set of their tunes. Today we celebrating singer, Etta James, who passed away last Friday at the age of 73.

Etta James rose to fame with her debut album, At Last!, which was released in 1960 on Chess Records and featured the hits, “I Just Want To Make Love To You”, “A Sunday Kind Of Love” and the title track, “At Last”. She followed this album up with the also successful albums “The Second Time Around” and “Etta James Sings For Lovers”. James continued making successful music throughout the late 1970s.

Despite taking roughly 10 years off from music between 1978-1987, James signed a deal with Island Records in 1989 and continued to release albums all throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with her final release being “The Dreamer”, which was released in November of last year.

James’ influence on music can be seen everywhere as she was a game changer and one of the first female singers to experiment heavily with jazz, soul and pop.  Artists from Christina Aguilera  to Amy Winehouse to this past year’s breakout superstar, Adele all have felt influenced and inspired by Ms. James.

Hence why her death last week was so saddening. She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011 and it was the cancer that ultimately led to her death. She will certainly be missed by many.

Make sure to tune into Throwback Thursday today at 5pm as we celebrate the life of Ms. Etta James.

- MW

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