Etta James, queen of blues, soul, R&B, rock and roll, gospel and jazz, has apparently been doing a slow burn since Beyonce Knowles sang her 1960 hit song At Last while President Barack Obama and Michelle danced at their first of many inaugural balls on January 20, 2009.
We’ve got video of Beyonce singing At Last for the first couple, much to the delight of the huge crowd at the Neighborhood Ball.
James unleashed some interesting comments during a concert appearance in Seattle last week that strongly suggests she’s not at all happy about the way Beyonce has taken over her song. One might surmise that she would like to have been the woman crooning to the first couple.
The women have other ties that may have caused Etta to build up some resentment. Beyonce starred as Etta James in the December 2008 movie Cadillac Records . The two made a promotional appearance together at the premiere and apparently didn’t come away as fast friends.
James told her Seattle audience that she can’t stand Beyonce. She then went on to thrash Barack Obama as well. Check out the audio of Etta dissing it up for the crowd.