Two hits, one 1962 voice

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Loaded Two hits, one 1962 voice
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Avicii's Levels and Flo Rida's Good Feeling share one vocal: the intro of Etta James's 1962 Something's Got a Hold on Me – found through a 2006 Pretty Lights track, cleared, credited, and still on the Hot 100 days after she died.

One 1962 vocal intro travelled through 2006 into two 2011 hits.

Facts

  • Avicii's “Levels” and Flo Rida's “Good Feeling” (both 2011) use the vocal intro of Etta James's “Something's Got a Hold on Me” (Argo, 1962), written by James, Leroy Kirkland and Pearl Woods. Her single peaked at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1962 and No. 4 on the R&B chart.
  • Avicii said in 2015 that he sampled the original record but found it through Pretty Lights' “Finally Moving” (2006), and first used it in his live shows, “popped” into the instrumental Levels. An early Levels aired on BBC Radio 1 in December 2010; the version with her voice premiered at Ultra in Miami in 2011. He called her voice “timeless”.
  • Flo Rida heard the vocal when his A&R at Atlantic played him Levels. Good Feeling (released 29 August 2011) used the same sample, and Flo Rida said “We got that cleared”. It credits nine writers, among them Tim Bergling (Avicii), his manager Arash Pournouri, Etta James, Leroy Kirkland and Pearl Woods.
  • Good Feeling entered the Hot 100 on 17 September 2011, eleven weeks before Levels (3 December 2011), and the UK chart a week before it (26 November vs 3 December 2011). Peaks: Good Feeling No. 3 in the US and No. 1 in the UK; Levels No. 60 in the US and No. 4 in the UK. On the UK chart for 8–14 January 2012 they were No. 1 and No. 4.
  • Etta James died on 20 January 2012, aged 73; she had sung gospel in church from the age of five. Days later Billboard reported her voice still in two Hot 100 hits: Good Feeling at No. 3 and Levels at No. 68. Flo Rida never met her: “I would have loved to have a chance to meet her.”

Sources

  1. Dan Hyman: Flo Rida and Avicii Remember Etta James (Rolling Stone, 24 January 2012) · Rolling Stone checked 9 October 2026
  2. Keith Caulfield: Etta James Sales Jump 378% in Days After Her Death (Billboard, 25 January 2012) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  3. Rob Markman: Flo Rida Samples Etta James On 'Good Feeling' (MTV News, 31 August 2011, archived) · MTV News checked 9 October 2026
  4. Katie Bain: Songs That Defined the Decade: Avicii's 'Levels' (Billboard, 21 November 2019) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  5. Robert Copsey: Flo Rida: 'Good Feeling' – single review (Digital Spy, 17 November 2011, archived) · Digital Spy checked 9 October 2026
  6. Tim Bergling (Avicii): answer to “Did Avicii sample Pretty Lights?” (Quora, September 2015; text as cited by Wikipedia) · Quora checked 9 October 2026
  7. Avicii Reveals His Influences, How He Got Into Country & More In New Q&A (Your EDM, 22 September 2015) · Your EDM checked 9 October 2026
  8. Levels (Avicii song) · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  9. Chuck Strouse & Jose D. Duran: Avicii, Dead at 28, Made His Career in Miami (Miami New Times, 20 April 2018) · Miami New Times checked 9 October 2026
  10. Taking Up Your Precious Time (Pretty Lights album) · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  11. Flashback Fridays 031: Pretty Lights – Finally Moving (Your EDM, 12 July 2013) · Your EDM checked 9 October 2026
  12. Good Feeling (Flo Rida song) · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  13. MusicBrainz work: Good Feeling (writers) · MusicBrainz checked 9 October 2026
  14. Something's Got a Hold on Me (Etta James song) · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  15. Etta James – Billboard Hot 100 chart history · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  16. Avicii – Billboard Hot 100 chart history · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  17. Flo Rida – Billboard Hot 100 chart history · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  18. Good Feeling – Flo Rida: UK chart history · Official Charts checked 9 October 2026
  19. Levels – Avicii: UK chart history · Official Charts checked 9 October 2026
  20. Garth Cartwright: Etta James obituary (The Guardian, 20 January 2012) · The Guardian checked 9 October 2026

All sound is original: synthesised for the episode, no samples, no licensed tracks. The narrator’s voice is AI-generated. General information. Features differ by software, player and version – check your own manual. Read how facts are checked and corrected.

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Script

Avicii's Levels. Flo Rida's Good Feeling. Same 1962 voice. That's Etta James, from the intro of Something's Got a Hold on Me. Avicii said he found it through a 2006 Pretty Lights track. He sampled the original for his live shows and dropped it into Levels. Flo Rida's label played him Levels. His Good Feeling used the same vocal, and charted first in the US and UK. Flo Rida said it was cleared. Good Feeling credits nine writers, including Avicii and Etta James. Etta James died on 20 January 2012. Days later, Billboard's Hot 100 still had her voice twice: No. 3 and No. 68.

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Sources last checked 9 October 2026.