Donto James is one of the two sons of the iconic soul singer, Etta James who was born Jamesetta Hawkins. Aside from this, he is an American record producer, engineer, and drummer. His career garnered him two Grammy Awards for his production and percussion work on Let’s Roll(2003) and Blues To The Bone(2004).
His career was influenced by his mother’s own which spanned more than six decades and produced 29 albums before her death on January 12, 2012, due to complications of leukemia.
The Early Life and Background of Donto James
Donto Cedric James was born on March 23, 1968, to Eta James. At the time of his birth, his mother was already gaining popularity with her music. Moreso, he has a younger brother Sametto from his mother’s relationship with another man.
Some sources report that his father was an alcoholic whose absence and his mother’s drug addiction made him live with his grandmother during his childhood.
Nonetheless, he and his brother grew up and looked up to their mother’s lifelong husband, Artis Mills as a father figure.
Despite Mills’ consistent presence in Donto and Sametto’s life, sadly, they also witnessed their mother, and Mills’s drug use. Between 1966 to 70, his mother will enter different rehab facilities. In one such case, her husband, Mills took the blame for heroin that she was found with and this led him to spend ten years in imprisonment.
Moving on, Donto and his brother were inspired by their mother’s career. From a young age, they became involved in her music. Donto played the drums while his brother played the guitar. Aside from this, he once acted as her bodyguard when he was 12 years old and joined her tours around the world.
Who is the Father of Donto James?
Etta never revealed the identity of Donto’s father. However, there are speculations that his father is Billy Foster, a musician. Also, in a Facebook post made by the musician on November 22, 2018, the singer made a reference to his and Etta James’ son as Donto.
In addition, he also revealed that his son is married to Richard Berry’s daughter, Christie. Following these revelations and knowing that Donto James is married to a woman named Christy James, it solidifies the speculations about him being Billy Foster’s son.
Per Donto’s marriage to Christy, the couple have three children, Karrisia, Davi, and Donaka Etta James
Eta James Son, Donto is a Grammy Award Winning Producer
Donto James started following in his famous mother’s footsteps in the music industry, unlike her, he honed his skills as a music producer, recording engineer, and drummer.
Needless to say, his career was heavily influenced by Etta James’. He is the recipient of two grammy awards for works he did on Etta James’ albums.
He won his first grammy award for best contemporary Blues album with Let’s Roll In 2003. Donto co-produced as well as played the percussion and drums.
Donto James’ second grammy award was in 2004 for Best Traditional Blues album which he won with the production work he did on Blues To The Bone. Notably, the album was a combined effort of Etta James, Sametto, and Josh Sklair.
He Had a Legal Battle with Artis Mills Over his Mother’s Estate
Donto and his stepfather started having problems over his famous mother’s estate while she was still alive and lying on her sick bed.
Prior to this, Donto had revealed that his mother had Alzheimer’s disease in 2008. Her condition deteriorated to Leukemia by 2010 and this affected her.
It was her ill health that led to the legal battles between Eta James’ oldest son and her husband who approached the court to appoint him her conservator -someone charged with another’s affair due to the inability of the person. According to Mills, he needed funds to take care of her medical bills that was running to $30 thousand monthly.
However, such a request was challenged by Donto who claimed his mother had given him, his brother, and his wife, Christy power of attorney in 2008. He also asked the court to appoint a neutral administrator.
Mills refuted his claim since according to him, Etta was in a state of dementia when she took such a decision. However, Sameti, Donto’s younger brother supported his brother.
The court settled the case by making Mills the conservator of the $1 million in her account but only allowed him access to $350 thousand for her care.
See Also: Agnéz Deréon Is Beyonce’s Grandmother – Here Is All We Know About Her
Donto James was With His Mother At Her Death
The record producer and grammy award winner had a cordial relationship with his mother that lasted till her death on January 20, 2012, at the age of 73. He revealed that he was happy that his mother died in his arms.
Also, he was grateful for the time he spent with his mother whose career was successful as he considered it a true gift.
Donto James, Etta James’ oldest son has garnered huge success in his career as a record producer but like many celebrity children, there is great expectation that his achievements will surpass those of his mother. Will this actually be his case or he may fall short? Whatever the case and judging based on his career progress, he may be great enough in his own right.
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