UPDATE:
Etta James tried backtracking on her criticisms of Beyonce and President Obama late Thursday. She told the NYDN:
"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 she wasn't invited to perform her signature song for Obama's first dance with his wife on inauguration night.
James said she was "feeling left out of something that was basically mine, that I had done every time you look around."
PREVIOUSLY:
Etta James has lashed out at Beyonce weeks after Beyonce sang James' classic "At Last" for the Obamas' first dance at the inauguration.
At a concert in Seattle last week, James told the crowd, "I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whupped," sarcastically calling her "The great Beyoncé."
And she went on.
"I can't stand Beyoncé... [she] had no business ... singing my song that I been singing forever."
She even slammed the President himself. "You know your President, right? You know the one with the big ears? He ain't my President."
James was unable to attend the inauguration for health reasons.
Beyonce actually played James in "Cadillac Records," which came out in December. The above photo is from the film's premiere.
Hear the audio of Etta James: