Etta James’ Son Donto Gives More Details on Mom’s Addiction Issues

This is a side of Etta James you may be shocked to learn about! In an interview with The Daily Beast, James' son Donto speaks in detail about his relationship with his late mother, who battled substance abuse for as long as he could remember. James was raised by his grandmother and says that he never had a stable living situation.

“People tended to think that because my mother was Etta James I must have had a great life with caviar and steaks every night, but it wasn’t like that,” James admitted. “We were poor and broke. We were lucky to get Spam sandwiches and frosted flakes for dessert. We are talking about eating cereal in water but we always had a roof over our heads. It wasn’t like we were starving. We did all right.”

He also shares that the family kept his mother's heroin addiction under wraps, only telling him that she wasn't feeling well as she went through countless bouts of withdrawal and a number of relapses. As the James family struggles amongst themselves to choose a rightful head of the chanteuse's estate, more details are surfacing in regard to what the legendary singer left behind.

On Nov. 15, the Discovery Channel's ID Network aired the story behind the family feud on the series, 'The Will: Family Secrets Revealed.'

Watch Etta James Perform 'At Last'