- She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 18, 2003.
- She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame for her services and contributions to the music industry. She was awarded four Grammy Awards including the 2003 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a 1995 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the album "Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday".
- Died from complications from leukemia on January 20, 2012, with her husband, Artis Mills, and her sons by her side. She died at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California, where she was a resident at the time of her death. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, and also suffered from dementia and hepatitis.
- Claimed in her autobiography that Minnesota Fats was her biological father. But Wanderone never confirmed this.
- Ranked #19 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.
- She was voted the 62nd Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone.
- She had two sons with her husband Artis Mills: Donto James and Sametto James. She also had four grandchildren.
- She was signed by Chess Records in 1960, when her contract with Modern Records came up for renewal.
- Daughter of Dorothy Hawkins (who was 14 years old at the time of her birth). She was raised by foster parents and moved to San Francisco, California, when she was 12 years old with her mother. She began singing at St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, at five years of age.
- Sang background vocals for her labelmate Chuck Berry on his song "Back in the U.S.A.". Also sang his song "Rock and Roll Music" with him during his 60th birthday concert at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Following her death, she was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. The inscription on her gravestone reads: "Your legacy is and will be forever an inspiration".
- Etta James passed away on January 20, 2012, only five days from what would have been her 74th birthday on January 25.
- After she heard Terry Fator perform "At Last", said she preferred it to Beyoncé's version in Dreamgirls (2006).
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