Tough gal Etta James was just cracking jokes when she told a Seattle audience that she "can't stand Beyonce," who covered James' most famous song at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball that followed President Obama's inauguration, according to the New York Daily News.
"I didn't really mean anything," the 71 year-old diva told the paper. "Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude. Nobody was getting mad at me in Seattle. They were all laughing, and it was funny."
Still, Beyonce's invitation to sing "At Last" for the President and Mrs. Obama's first dance did sting the woman who made the song a classic. James complained she felt "left out of something that was basically mine, that I
had done every time you look around."
Whether she really meant what she'd said--that Beyonce was "gonna get her ass whupped" for singing the song--James wasn't the first artist to perform the tune that she made famous on her 1961 Chess Records debut album. Glenn Miller performed "At Last" with his orchestra in the '40s, followed by Nat King Cole in the '50s. And it's natural for great musical ideas to be passed between generations, as music mogul Clive Davis told MTV.com.
"I know that last year when I introduced Leona Lewis to Whitney Houston there was a sense of visible awe," Davis told the website. "It was not, 'I'm gonna show a past generation [up].' I'm not saying it was a lovefest, but back in the day ... they could all be great, but they competed with each other. But I don't think it's indigenous to artists. I don't view it as a problem."
"I didn't really mean anything," the 71 year-old diva told the paper. "Even as a little child, I've always had that comedian kind of attitude. Nobody was getting mad at me in Seattle. They were all laughing, and it was funny."
Still, Beyonce's invitation to sing "At Last" for the President and Mrs. Obama's first dance did sting the woman who made the song a classic. James complained she felt "left out of something that was basically mine, that I
had done every time you look around."Whether she really meant what she'd said--that Beyonce was "gonna get her ass whupped" for singing the song--James wasn't the first artist to perform the tune that she made famous on her 1961 Chess Records debut album. Glenn Miller performed "At Last" with his orchestra in the '40s, followed by Nat King Cole in the '50s. And it's natural for great musical ideas to be passed between generations, as music mogul Clive Davis told MTV.com.
"I know that last year when I introduced Leona Lewis to Whitney Houston there was a sense of visible awe," Davis told the website. "It was not, 'I'm gonna show a past generation [up].' I'm not saying it was a lovefest, but back in the day ... they could all be great, but they competed with each other. But I don't think it's indigenous to artists. I don't view it as a problem."
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