The war over Etta James' fortune

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Once known for her feisty, outspoken riffs on stage, R & B icon Etta James can’t speak up about the vicious legal battle escalating between her husband and son over control of her savings.

Known for her signature catalogue of songs—”At Last,” “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and “Call My Name”—the 73-year-old songbird suffers from dementia, leukemia, and numerous other ailments and is now bedridden at her ranch-style home in Riverside County, California.

“She is not really capable of making any rational decisions at this point,” said James’ court-appointed attorney Dennis Sandoval.

In fact, her ability to make decisions is at the heart of the family saga. Her son, Donto James, claims he has power of attorney over his mother’s affairs while her husband, Artis Mills, says she was in no condition to give him that sort of power. James’ erratic behavior at the time—which ranged from dozens of performances to strange comments and cancellations—have made this “he said, he said” all that much more difficult to decipher.

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