Brittany Howard was born in Athens, Alabama, one of two daughters born to Christi (née Carter) and K. J. Howard. Her mother is white, of English and Irish ancestry, while her father is African American. The family's home was in a junk yard, and once burned down due to a lightning strike. She learned to write poetry and play the piano from her older sister Jaime, who died from retinoblastoma in 1998. Howard got the same affliction but survived with partial blindness in one eye. She began playing the guitar at at age 13.
Alabama Shakes is an American rock band formed in Athens, Alabama, in 2009. The band consisted of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson.
The band formed under the name "The Shakes" when Howard and bassist Zac Cockrell began playing covers and original songs together with drummer Steve Johnson.
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