Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten. She has won seven Grammy Awards, and is often referred to as the "Empress of Soul".
Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, eleven number-one R&B singles and six number-one R&B albums. In 1989, Knight recorded the theme song for the James Bond film Licence to Kill.
Two of her songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value. She is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame along with The Pips. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Knight among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She is also a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors.
Early life
Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 28, 1944, to Sarah Elizabeth, a nurse's aide, and Merald Woodlow Knight Sr., a postal worker. Her parents were members of both the church choir and a local choir group. She has a sister, Brenda, and two brothers, Merald "Bubba" Jr. and David "Billy".Knight was raised Baptist and began singing gospel music at age four at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Atlanta. At the age of eight, she won Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest singing Nat King Cole's "Too Young." Shortly after, Knight along with her brother Bubba, sister Brenda, and cousins Eleanor and William Guest performed together during Bubba's tenth birthday party after a record player malfunctioned. The quintet later formed a group at the encouragement of Knight's mother. The group settled on the name The Pips, inspired by the nickname of their cousin and manager, James "Pip" Woods.
The Pips performed at church, talent shows, and clubs opening for popular acts, then signed with Brunswick Records in 1957 and began releasing singles. After a few lineup changes, the group debuted their first album in 1960 when Knight was just 16. By then, she had recorded five songs and released her first hit single, “Every Beat of My Heart.” The group's success was later halted by Knight's departure to start a family with husband and musician Jimmy Newman, resuming soon after when she returned.
Knight attended the historic Booker T. Washington High School, in Atlanta, later transferring and graduating from Archer High School.
Success with the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966, and, although initially regarded as a second-string act by the label, scored several major hit singles, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" , "The Nitty Gritty", "Friendship Train", "If I Were Your Woman", "I Don't Want To Do Wrong", the Grammy Award–winning "Neither One of Us ", and "Daddy Could Swear ". In their early Motown career, Gladys Knight and the Pips toured as the opening act for Diana Ross and the Supremes. Gladys Knight stated in her memoirs that Ross kicked her off the tour because the audience's reception to Knight's soulful performance overshadowed her. Berry Gordy later told Knight that she was giving his act a hard time.The act left Motown for a better deal with Buddah Records in 1973, and achieved even greater mainstream success that year with hits such as the Grammy-winning "Midnight Train to Georgia", "I've Got to Use My Imagination", "The Way We Were/Try To Remember" and "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me". In the summer of 1974, Knight and the Pips recorded the soundtrack to the film Claudine with producer Curtis Mayfield, which included the songs "On and On", "The Makings of You" and "Make Yours a Happy Home".
The act was particularly successful in Europe, and especially the United Kingdom. Several of the Buddah singles became hits in the UK several years after their release in the US. For example, "Midnight Train to Georgia" hit the Top 5 of the UK singles chart in the summer of 1976, a full three years after its success in the U.S.
Knight and the Pips continued to have hits until the late 1970s, when they were forced to record separately due to legal issues, resulting in Knight's first solo LP recordings—Miss Gladys Knight on Buddah and Gladys Knight on Columbia Records. After divorcing James Newman II in 1973, Knight married Barry Hankerson, then Detroit mayor Coleman Young's executive aide. Knight and Hankerson remained married for four years, during which time they had a son, Shanga Ali. Hankerson and Knight became embroiled in a heated custody battle over Shanga Ali. In 1980, Johnny Mathis invited Knight to record two duets— "When A Child Is Born" and "The Lord's Prayer".
Signing with Columbia Records in 1980 and restored to its familiar quartet form, Gladys Knight & the Pips began releasing new material. The act enlisted former Motown producers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for their first two albums: About Love, which included the hit "Landlord" and Touch.
In 1983, Gladys Knight and the Pips scored again with the hit "Save the Overtime ". The song, under the artistic direction of Leon Sylvers III, was done in a soulful boogie style. The single was released from their LP "Visions" and reached number 66 on the Hot 100, but was more successful on the R&B where it hit number one for a single week in mid 1983. The single was the first time the group hit number one on the R&B chart since 1974. The video accompanying the song became among the earliest R&B videos to incorporate elements of hip hop culture. The album also included the R&B hit "You're Number One ".
In 1987, Knight decided to pursue a solo career, and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together, All Our Love, for MCA Records. Its infectious lead single, "Love Overboard", was a number-one R&B hit and won another Grammy for the act as well. After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Knight began her solo career. Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1989, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
Solo career and other musical endeavors
While still with the Pips, Gladys Knight joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1985 AIDS benefit single, "That's What Friends Are For", a number one hit, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.Knight shared a stage with Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle for the 1986 HBO special Sisters in the Name of Love, which she co-executive produced and received three ACE Awards for Performance in a Music Special, as well as nominations for Best Music Special and Costume Design in 1987. On March 27, 1988, Knight performed a rendition of "America the Beautiful" at Wrestlemania 4 in Atlantic City, NJ. In 1989, she recorded "Licence to Kill", the title track for James Bond film of the same name, a Top-10 hit in the UK and Germany.
Knight released her third and most successful solo LP, Good Woman, on MCA in 1991, which hit number one on the R&B album chart, featured the number 2 R&B hit "Men", and reached number 45 on the main Billboard album chart — her all-time-highest showing. The album also featured "Superwoman", written by Babyface and featuring Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle; the track was nominated for a Grammy. Knight and LaBelle collaborated the same year on "I Don't Do Duets", for LaBelle's album Burnin'. Also in 1991, Knight performed the national anthem at Game 1 of the World Series.
Her fourth solo album, Just for You, went Gold and was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. The fifth solo album, At Last, earned her first solo Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Album in 2000.
Knight created and directs the Mormon-themed choir Saints Unified Voices. SUV has released a Grammy Award-winning CD titled One Voice, and occasionally performs at LDS church firesides.
In April 2004, Knight co-headlined the VH1's benefit concert Divas Live 2004 alongside Ashanti, Cyndi Lauper, Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone, Debbie Harry, and Patti LaBelle, in support of the Save the Music Foundation.
In 2005, a duet between Knight and Ray Charles of "You Were There" was released on Charles' duets album Genius & Friends.
In the spring of 2008, Knight appeared alongside Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross at the 'Divas with Heart' concert in aid of cardiac research, at New York's Radio City Hall. Also in 2008 Gladys, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller performed on American Idol to raise money for charity.
In 2009, Knight sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and "The Lord's Prayer" at the funeral service for Michael Jackson.
In September 2011, a new, updated recording of Shirley Bassey's 1960s classic "I " was released on iTunes and Amazon.
In 2013, Knight recorded the Lenny Kravitz-written and -produced song "You And I Ain't Nothin' No More" for the soundtrack from Lee Daniels' motion picture The Butler. The song was added to the movie's soundtrack of older songs with various artists so the producers could nominate it for Best Song from a Motion Picture category at the Academy Awards.
Where My Heart Belongs marked her 30th top-40 R&B album, including work by Gladys Knight & the Pips. In a 2014 interview, she expressed a hope that women would "Stand Up" and stop selling sex in the music/entertainment industry. She commented that the growing trend saddened her heart and that she had been taught to dress respectfully for her audiences... "not take it off, put it on." Knight is ranked number 18 on VH1 network's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock.
In 2019, Knight accepted an invitation to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIII. She faced criticism for agreeing to perform due to the alleged blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick by the National Football League after he began protesting police brutality during pre-game anthem ceremonies. Similar criticism was expressed against the half-time show performers, Maroon 5, Travis Scott, and Big Boi. Knight defended her decision to sing, claiming to understand Kaepernick's reasons for protesting but criticizing him for kneeling during the national anthem.
In 2019, Knight was invited to play at the 100th Anniversary of Delaware State Fair, located in Harrington, Delaware.
In 2022, Knight received Kennedy Center Honors, presented by U.S. President Joe Biden. She also headlined a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Dinner at the White House.