Illness and Death
James was hospitalized in January 2010 to treat an infection caused by MRSA, a bacterium that is resistant to most antibiotic treatment. During her hospitalization, her son Donto revealed that James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008, and attributed her previous comments about Beyoncé Knowles to "drug induced dementia".
She was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2011. The illness became terminal and she died on January 20, 2012, just five days before her 74th birthday, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California. Her death came three days after that of Johnny Otis, the man who discovered her in the 1950s. Additionally, just 36 days after her death, her sideman Red Holloway also died.
The funeral, presided by Reverend Al Sharpton, took place in Gardena, California eight days after her death. Singers Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera each gave a musical tribute. She was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County, California.
Read more about this topic: Etta James
Famous quotes containing the words illness and, illness and/or death:
“... how I understand that love of living, of being in this wonderful, astounding world even if one can look at it only through the prison bars of illness and suffering! Plus je vois, the more I am thrilled by the spectacle.”
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