“You guys know your president, right? You know the one with the big ears? Wait a minute, he ain’t my president. He might be yours; he ain’t my president. But I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song — she’s going to get her ass whipped. … The great Beyoncé. Like I said, she ain’t mine. … I can’t stand Beyoncé. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol’ president day, gonna be singing my song that I’ve been singing forever.” —Etta James on Beyonce covering her song for a man she doesn’t consider her president [via]
Ed
Truth to power- Beyonce can’t sing=0. Etta can=1.
I’ll leave the big ear thing alone however.
Mike
@Ed: Beyonce is an incredibly talented singer. Etta James should be honoured that an extremely popular and current star should cover her song for the president. Her bitter jealousy is not at all becoming.
Darth Paul
@Mike: Denied. Beyonce’s a barely-talented, unoriginal, style-biting turd. Etta’s a little out of pocket, but she’s spot on about Beyonce.
CondeNasty
I feel like a heel, until this post I thought Etta was dead. I need to place my gay card in the penalty box.
Jon92027
I thought that Etta James was dead as well,
GranDiva
So I figure that Etta is none too happy about the whole Cadillac Records movie thing, right?
I hadn’t heard anything about Etta not liking the movie, but I haven’t been paying much attention, either.
Ed
p.s. I don’t think Beyonce’s without talent. She just can’t sing that well and doesn’t have the pipes Etta does. And I doubt Etta’s jealous, she’s just being Etta.
Erik
I thought she was dead also, she is a tied old women that need to have a little more class, it is her right to be upset, but come on she is a 70 something women saying she is beating some ones ass, thats childish and I am sure she would break something if she tried.
eric
etta just played a show in seattle a few nights ago. woman is fierce. beyonce is a soulless money machine.
Erik
@eric: Well I dont think a women in her 70 that has to resorts to threats over a stupid reason isnt fierce, it called petty
Dawn
I believe Etta was asked to sing herself at the inauguration, but she was ill. She and Beyonce were BFF’s at the Cadillac Records premiere last year, where Beyonce glorified the one hit wonder’s drug infested life. Etta has no problem collecting royalties, thanks to Beyonce making At Last a hit again.. It was made public weeks prior what and where Beyonce was singing and Etta should have voiced her opinion it at that time…and now she has the audacity to blast her in public…shame on her.
jeffrey bryan
Whatever Etta… your version was a cover of Nat King Cole, which was a cover of Glenn Miller. I’ve got a feeling Warren and Gordon who actually WROTE THE SONG might disagree with your assumed ownership of something that had been around twenty years prior to your recording.
And as to the Beyonce haters… she can sing. You may not like her style… but she can sing.
And my final word on the subject – is that I like Christina Aguilera’s version best 🙂
Geoff
Just goes to show that despite talent….class does not acrue with age. I agree with #10 Erik….she is ‘petty’.
Mike
Well we can disagree on whether Beyonce has talent or not, I suppose (just as some COULD try to argue that Posh was/is not the greatest Spice Girl ever)…
…but to spew out crap at a public concert about Beyonce and your president, is pretty tacky.
As Dawn stated, Etta and Beyonce were bffs at the movie premiere and I believe that Beyonce met with Etta to discuss her role in the movie….which likely gave a major boost to the sales of Etta James recordings. She should just STFU.
Erin
Beyonce can not sing, it pains me that she has made a fortune on her barely there voice, Christina Aguilera can blow her out of the water any day! Etta I’m sure would not mind Christina covering her song.
REBELComx
I’m not a big fan of Beyonce myself. I don’t like her singing, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say she has no talent. But really, Etta, your song? YOUR song?
Bitch, you didn’t write this song. It was written for a musical film, was popular for 20 years BEFORE you recorded it, and it’s been covered by nearly 2 dozen other artists. Get over yourself…or at least start talking shit on the other people who recorded it (like Celine Dion). And unless you are living in a different country, Obama is your president. We had to put up with your buddy Bush (oh yeah, she loved him) for the past 8 years. Now put down the heroin and STFU.
Erik
@REBELComx: Nicely said my friend
Tom D Frog
My 2 cents…WHATEVER! How is this news? How is this important.
Ok, I guess Etta had to remind people she was not dead. I thought she was. I mean, when was her last hit? What new material has she done? How is she in anyway relevant?
Beyonce in my opinion is an entertainer. She can sing, dance, act…No, she is no Ms. Franklin or Ms. Fitzgerald in the singing department but neither are they like her in the dancing department. And when it comes to pipes Etta is a a mediocre singer in comparison to the greats mentioned above. Beyonce did a good job with the song IMHO. I know she has more singing talent than anyone who is responding to this QUEERTY posting. One would have an easier time comparing Beyonce to Ms. Della Reese. Ms Reese is a Grande Dame with amazing talent in the art of singing, dancing and acting. A woman whose talent kept her very busy and very popular for decades.
Ms. James, your 15 minutes were up decades ago. Thank you for the 1 hit. I enjoy it every time I hear it.
T.
rigs
haha, what an old crazy hag. I love it though, it’s hillarious!
Larry
God, I love how uneducated people are, for 1)”At Last” isn’t even Etta James’s biggest pop hit, but due to the commercialization of people’s previous accomplishments everyone thinks it is. So whenever Etta James is asked to do anything, she’s asked to sing that song. Of Course she doesn’t collect royalties on it because she didn’t write it, but it’s the song in pop culture she’s forced to sing over and over again to make a living, so I’d probably be a bit territorial about it too.
But, we all have opinions, I’d rather spend my time and money on people that actually have the ability to sing, or the good sense to record songs they didn’t write instead of putting out crap with samples (Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” samples a Dramatics Song from the mid 1970s) and non sensical lyrics. To me Beyonce’s wailing is less appealing than a old Hoover Vaccuum with a broken belt, then again people said the same things about Diana Ross 45 years ago. It’s to each their own.
But, if we respect Aretha and her crazy ass hat (and quite a few of her crazy ass statements, remember she want’s Halle Berry to play her in her life story?) We can tolerate, and possibly understand wheh our grande dames of Soul music might say these things. If you lived the life of segregation, lack of royalty payments and lack of objective critical understanding of your art, you might say something vaguely bitter too when you’re 71 years old.
Gregoire
Why does she not think Obama is her president? Was she a McCain supporter? She’s as old as McCain, so maybe she was.
Alexa
Maybe she’s a puma.
I’m torn on this one. I loathe Beyonce, but the comments were classless.
blake
@REBELComx:
Disagree with the woman but have some respect for a 70-year-old and not call her a “bitch.”
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
I HATE Beyonce!!!
Yeah!!
Unoriginal robot!
Nick
I heard Ms. James is a Republican…wouldn’t surprise me.
TBSJR
who is Etta James anyway. She was not the person who first to bring the song to the public attention. At Last” is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, It was first performed in the film and on record by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, vocal by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday.
Laurie
@jeffrey bryan: agreed.
Nick
This kind of feels like when Rosa Parks sued Outkast for naming one of their hit songs “Rosa Parks,” although the song had but one line in the chorus that even slightly referred to her. Do these important icons honestly think it makes sense to tarnish their legendary status by sounding like grumpy old hags? I mean, this may be the last time these artists actually made headlines before, you know…
Also- whether a Beyonce fan or not, it’s proposterous and ignorant to say she has no talent. Personal taste has absolutely nothing to with artistic merit, and that’s one of the first things one must know before critiquing music.
Monica Roberts
Well.. this just prove.. poor ole Etta James is sitting up on her commode spewing diarrhear from all her “enablex” medications.. she obviously have went so senility as not to remember when she could not even urinate in the blue waters of a Continental Trailways Bus on its way from Houstern to Louisville.. How shitty.. how sad.. that she was never called out as a transexxual, or forced to go through “Ladette to Lady” training at Eggleston Hall….When Beyonce hollered out ‘AT LAST” the night of the inuaglarartion, this was supposed to be the STOP PUT finally to
ANY AND ALL CRITICISMS
of Black americams, no matter what genitalia they had or HAD NOT surgically remove.
But, dammit. the GAY WHITE MAFIA stand in the way once again.
I’m sorry.
but that is hows it
TEE III ZEE HHEEE ZZOOO EEEEZZZZZZ
rick
is etta shooting up the smack again? yeah she might have been singing that tune for years, but she started singing it years after it was a hit for glen miller.
sparkle obama
beyonce is a very talented singer!
that goes without saying, really.
osocubano
So, does Etta own the song, or what?
bruyninckx37
The “not my president” comments are bizarre, but Etta has a right to call out anyone who sings her signature tune. She changed it around in the 60s to make it her own, and Beyonce copied her performance almost note for note, *not* what you are supposed to do when you sing a standard.
kimberley melino
Love Etta James and agree with everything she said!!
Mike
Looks like Ms. James is backtracking now. http://dlisted.com/node/30566
Mister C
WHATEVER! But Monica Roberts sounds like she comes from the school of Shirley Q Liqor a true idiot!
Cee
Everyone keeps talking about Beyonce. Who cares? She is so unoriginal. I can list 5 things off top that she stole from other artists. Me and a co worker were talking about this the other day. Beyonce is a biter and she has been called out by other artists before. What I don’t understand is why Etta was hatin on Obama? Forget Beyonce with her boring personality having a$$. Solange is way more interesting than Beyonce and I don’t like her either..LOL But why was Etta sayin Obama aint her president? Who is her president? Callin him big ears and stuff? So what? He got big ears. Etta, you weighed 300 lbs at one point and have always looked a mess. I mean I’d rather have big ears.
Kijana
Beyonce is incredably talented etta is just jealous!
If you don’t beyonce is talented name 1 cd dat didnt sell
i look online ettea had 3 no seller cd beyonce none!!
dofus kamas
Your blog is good site
hapleng