Top 47 Quotes by Etta James

That's where it begins and ends for me and these songs were the ones that touched me the deepest. It was like I was laying hold of some part of me that I didn't even know was there until I let it out.

My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I'd like to think I did that.

My mother always wanted me to be glamorous. When I thought about that, it really fired me up, and once I lost all those pounds, I started to feel really good about myself.

Once you lose the weight, you're really anxious to eat healthy.

A few years ago, I thought, I'll never make it. I started to go to the doctor to help me lose weight.

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.

And as I started reaching deeper I realized that most of the blues of that day was done by men. Women just didn't have the nerve.

It's not about battling the original artists when I record these songs, it's about paying tribute to them.

I like to shop, but I don't like to go out to dances.

I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.