Grammy-winning soul legend Etta James, famous for her hit At Last, left hospital in California, where she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“Etta James was released from the hospital this afternoon. She is home with her husband and family by her side. Her condition remains stable,” her agent Lupe de Leon said.

Ms James, 73, is suffering from leukaemia and was hospitalised near her home in Riverside, east of Los Angeles.

Her manager announced in mid-December that doctors had declared two weeks earlier that her illness was terminal.

She also has dementia and Hepatitis C, according to her agent, who last week said that she had been taken off respiratory assistance in hospital.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Ms James has won four Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2003.

She is also known for her soulful rendition of such songs as I’d Rather Go Blind and All I Could Do Was Cry.

At Last was sung by R&B diva Beyonce when she serenaded new US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their first dance on inauguration night in January 2009.

Written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren, At Last first became a hit for Glenn Miller and his orchestra and was covered by Nat King Cole before being adopted by Ms James in 1960.