Etta James has spoken out about her recent onstage comments aimed at Beyonce & Prez Obama, she say's 'I was only trying to get a laugh' to Daily News. She also says that the Seattle crowd kept laughing so she kept on going....so we can all blame Seattle?
If you didn't know already you will know after reading this short interview that Etta was just some what bitter about not being asked to sing the song herself. I may have been too but then again not so much because the artist was chosen first (Beyonce) and the song was chosen by the artist. Etta should look at it as an honor that the song was sung and everyone knows it is her song....it's ok to pass the torch to the younger generation.
Read the article after the click
Singer Etta James says she was only trying to get a laugh when she said
she “can’t stand” Beyonce and made fun of President Obama’s ears during
a concert in Seattle.
James told the Daily News Thursday that she meant no harm when she
poked fun at the president and ripped Beyonce for her performance of
James’ hit “At Last” during the inauguration.
“I didn’t really mean anything,” James said. “Even as a little child,
I’ve always had that comedian kind of attitude. …That’s probably what
went into it.”
Still, James acknowledged being miffed that she wasn’t invited to
perform her signature song for Obama’s first dance with his wife on
inauguration night.
James was “feeling left out of something that was basically mine, that I had done every time you look around,” she said.
And while she said she liked Beyonce’s performance, when asked if she
thought she could have done better, James answered, “I think so. That’s
a shame to say that.”
James made the controversial comments before performing the song at a
concert in Seattle last week. She began by saying of Obama, “You know
your President, right? You know the one with the big ears?”
She went on to say about Beyonce, “I tell you that woman he had singing
for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whupped.”
Thursday, James said she kept the insults rolling only because the
crowd was laughing so hard, a reaction that can be heard on a recording.
“Nobody was getting mad at me in Seattle,” she said. “They were all laughing, and it was funny.”
She said the jokes were “not from a vicious place.”
James pointed out that she posed for a picture and spoke with Beyonce
last year before the premiere of “Cadillac Records,” in which the young
singer portrays the 71-year-old legend.
As for Obama, James said she “always thought he was handsome and he was cool.”
“I still had my joke about him,” she said. “That might be horrible. The president might not ever like me in life.”
She questioned how upset Obama could possibly be about the barb: “He’s got other stuff (to worry about) besides Etta James.”
Beyonce could take Etta James in more ways than one
Posted by: coffee | February 08, 2009 at 01:15 AM