Etta James died last week, news that literally brought tears to my eyes. The first time I heard Etta James, actually heard her, it shook me to the core. The range of her voice embodied the pain of love and flutter of hope that every girl struggles with. Every time I listen to "Anything To Say You're Mine" when she sings "My heart cries for just one little line... anything to say you're mine", my heart plummets in to my stomach and pulls with it, every emotion tied to the sentiments of love. There a very few artist that manage to weave a place like that into heart and she, somehow, walked right in with one line. 
The respect she had for herself and her music (remember the Beyonce 'At Last' ordeal with Obama) shines just as bright as her voice. There's something most incredible about a woman who puts her reputation on the line in order to say what she's really thinking and her actions were just as fearless as her vocals. I feel it's cliche to say things like, "music isn't what it used to be" - every generation struggles with the evolution of music but, when you hear someone like Etta or Aretha or Nina Simone, you can't help but wonder where all the passion went.
Every generation brings with it, the loss of an icon from another era. And the death of Ms. James brings with it, a voice of genuine pain and triumph to a generation lacking in both. I overheard two teenage girls talking about the newspaper headlines. One asked the other, "who is Etta James" to which the other replied, "she sings that one song, 'at last' I think". There was a moment of mixed emotions on my behalf until I realized, she probably wouldn't mind being remembered as the woman who sang 'At Last'. The emotion she put in to the song exemplified the white-picket innocence of love from her era and still rings true to the honest desires of women now. She was a cornerstone of soul music in a period that it was desperately needed and her passion remained with her until the day she died. Etta James was my gateway drug to better soul music and her death is a great loss to the foundation of what makes music so incredible.
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