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cabs in Chicago and was tight with boxer Muhammad Ali, who always came around.”

“Me and Red and Faye and C.B. went on a double date, afterwards C.B. invited us to the house he shared with Sarah since she was on tour (although I liked Sarah and considered her a friend) damned if I didn’t still go along.”

“Faye went around in Sarah’s robes and slippers. Meanwhile, I cooked up a mess of gumbo for Red. While it snowed outside, we stayed high for days, eating and partying to our hearts’ content. Despite this, I felt guilty and uncomfortable because of Faye’s affair with Sarah’s husband.”

“Faye was no hooker. She could have made millions but she did what she did because she loved making love to men. Men loved her, not only because of her body and lovemaking techniques but because she wasn’t coy or tricky like many chicks. Straight up, she’d let a man know what he was going to get. He didn’t have to buy her drinks or dinner. We ran close together until many years later, I got nervous about Faye’s designs on my teenage son.”

“C.B. wound up losing all of Sarah Vaughn’s money. After Sarah divorced him, he managed and married Esther Phillips.”

“My man Red would eventually die in prison.”

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That was a mouthful Etta said! If that were today, I would think that folks would call Etta and her friends ratchet and have them plastered all over social media, just like we do with artists like Kanye West and Rihanna, or like reality TV celeb’s like Mimi Faust of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta and Nene Leakes of RHOA. The only difference is that none of these new celebs’ stories would have been as jaw dropping as Etta’s and her friends’…go figure.

Seriously though, Ms. James ultimately overcame her drug addiction and was eventually able to live a sober life before sadly succumbing to leukemia on January 20, 2012 at the age of 73. We give her major props for finding a way to take her pain and her mistakes and using them as fuel to push harder toward success, without allowing it to fully overtake her life and block her passion for music. Salute to Etta for standing in her truths and sharing them with the world. Continue to sleep peacefully Etta James, you deserve it.