# Etta James throws a fit about Beyonce singing "her" song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612 "2009-02-05T20:16:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/1 "2009-02-05T20:16:56Z")
“You guys know your president, right?” she asked the crowd amid cheers (listen to it here. “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. You know that woman he had singing for him, singing my song – she’s gonna get her a-- whipped. The great Beyoncé … But I can’t stand Beyoncé. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol’ president day … singing my song that I’ve been singing forever.” [http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=350866>1=28102&vv=650](http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=350866>1=28102&vv=650) I hope this is a joke, because if not, it’s way over the top. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/2 "2009-02-05T20:25:36Z")
When did Beyonce become a Terminator? And am I the only one who read Etta’s daughter’s name as “Dorito” at first? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/3 "2009-02-05T20:27:32Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I hope this is a joke, because if not, it’s way over the top. I hope so, too. Otherwise, it shows that you’re never to old to be petty and classless. ☹ Great pipes, though. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/4 "2009-02-05T20:28:37Z")
Etta James is still alive? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/5 "2009-02-05T20:30:18Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > And am I the only one who read Etta’s daughter’s name as “Dorito” at first? Probably not, but you’re probably the only one to read ‘son’ as ‘daughter’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/6 "2009-02-05T20:39:00Z")
What on earth does Etta James mean by, “he ain’t my president, he might be yours, he ain’t my president”? Isn’t she a US citizen, born in the US? Does she just mean that she didn’t vote for him? Or has she abandoned her US citizenship? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/7 "2009-02-05T20:47:03Z")
Well, to be fair, that song is \*her \*signature song. It’s kinda like someone else getting tapped to sing _I Left My Heart in San Francisco_, but you hear Tony Bennett is available and willing… Boy - that Beyonce, she does stir the pot, doesn’t she? First, calling Tina Turner a Queen and upsetting The Queen of Soul and now this. I love a good Diva Kerfuffle. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_D\_oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@Jane\_D\_oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_D_oh)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/8 "2009-02-05T20:52:46Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > Etta James is still alive? > > Huh. Just barely. More proof that drugs just aren’t good for you. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/9 "2009-02-05T21:26:39Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Well, to be fair, that song is \*her \*signature song. It’s kinda like someone else getting tapped to sing _I Left My Heart in San Francisco_, but you hear Tony Bennett is available and willing… But that’s not what happened. Beyonce was chosen to sing, and she chose “At Last” as the song. Etta wasn’t going to sing one way or the other because the choice wasn’t around who’d sing The Song best, but what song The Singer (in this case. Ms. Knowles) would belt out. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/10 "2009-02-05T21:32:01Z")
Yeah, Beyonce chose the song herself, they didn’t choose her to sing it. Though they probably should’ve invited Etta James. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/11 "2009-02-05T21:36:44Z")
I saw Ms. James in Niagara Falls last year. Far from being ‘just barely’ alive, I found her fabulous. Funny and fun with the banter between songs. Sounds like she was just half-kidding around…expressing her envy that she didn’t get to sing. And even if she does mean, ‘he aint my president’, she may have her own reasons for feeling that way. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/12 "2009-02-05T21:44:16Z")
I do remember reading a thread (not sure if it was here or elsewhere) where people were wondering why Etta James wasn’t singing “At Last” when she was alive and wasn’t this kind of a slap in the face? I was curious, too. Especially if she could sing well and all. Then again, if Beyonce just chose the song of her own accord, that is different. Though I suppose she could’ve chosen a different song. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/13 "2009-02-05T21:51:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Well, to be fair, that song is \*her \*signature song. It’s kinda like someone else getting tapped to sing _I Left My Heart in San Francisco_, but you hear Tony Bennett is available and willing… Yeah, it’s her signature song, and her version may be the best known, but Etta’s taking some liberty in saying it’s ‘her’ song. It had already been around for twenty years and recorded by a bunch of big name performers before she covered the song. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Last): > [@](#): > > “At Last” is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford. It was first performed in the film and on record by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, vocal by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday. The song was a major hit for Miller, reaching number 14 on the Billboard pop charts in 1942, and it soon became a standard. Nat King Cole recorded it in 1957 on his number one album Love Is the Thing. In 1960, it was covered by blues singer Etta James in a performance that improvised on Warren’s melody. James was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for her rendition of the song. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/14 "2009-02-05T22:08:01Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > But that’s not what happened. Beyonce was chosen to sing, and she chose “At Last” as the song. Etta wasn’t going to sing one way or the other because the choice wasn’t around who’d sing The Song best, but what song The Singer (in this case. Ms. Knowles) would belt out. Of course you’re correct, as is \*\*Santos L Halper \*\*(great username, btw)… …but \*you \*try telling that to Ms. James! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/15 "2009-02-05T22:12:14Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I do remember reading a thread (not sure if it was here or elsewhere) where people were wondering why Etta James wasn’t singing “At Last” when she was alive and wasn’t this kind of a slap in the face? I was curious, too. Especially if she could sing well and all. Yeah, that was my very ill-advised, ignorant and embarrassing thread. I blamed Obama for choosing Beyonce to sing the song before finding out the facts, that Beyonce had chosen the song herself. I was a big Etta James fan, and I’ll always love that song when sung by her, but if she’s rejecting Obama as not being her president, well then, fuck her, the old bat. I may get ticked off at Obama every now and then, but by god I’m proud he’s my president! If it was a joke I’d sure like to know what was behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/16 "2009-02-05T22:16:00Z")
Didn’t Beyonce sing “_At Last_” in a movie? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/17 "2009-02-05T22:18:06Z")
Yes, she played Etta in **Cadillac Records** , and was kick ass in it too. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/18 "2009-02-05T22:30:49Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Yes, she played Etta in **Cadillac Records** , and was kick ass in it too. Maybe that’s the source of the conflict, just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etta-james-throws-a-fit-about-beyonce-singing-her-song/484612/19 "2009-02-06T00:21:22Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Maybe that’s the source of the conflict, just sayin’ No, it was just about the Inauguration Ball performance. I’m sure Etta felt very slighted that she wasn’t asked to sing it, and is possibly why she’s pissed at Obama as well\*. Before that though, she seemed very happy with Beyoncé’s portrayal of her. [Beyonce, Etta James And ‘Cadillac Records’ Stars Come Out For Movie’s Premiere](http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1600243/20081125/story.jhtml) (there’s a picture of Etta with Beyoncé at that link) > [@](#): > > … > > But while the many who walked the carpet couldn’t hold back their praise for her, the 27-year-old superstar told MTV she was waiting for the good news from just one more spectator before she could call it a day. > > Luckily for her, that one person — Etta James herself — was in attendance. > > “She is! Just imagine!” a nervous Beyoncé squealed, half in delight, half in fear. "She’s one of my heroes, and I always loved her voice, but now knowing what she’s been through, she’s one of my heroes. I’m not sure if she thought [I would be good] as her. I’m very, very nervous. > > And now? > > **"I actually spoke with her and she told me, ‘I loved you from the first time you sung,’ " Beyoncé beamed.** - When I first heard about Beyoncé singing the song, I quite rightly assumed Etta would be hurt, which made me hurt for her, which is why I mistakenly lashed out, but I didn’t know she’d be _such_ a bitch about it (“not my president” indeed). Now I feel totally sorry for Beyoncé, who must be crushed at Etta’s bitchiness, and Etta’s almost ruined the wonderful trailer of Wall-E for me.