GLADYS MARIA KNIGHT, THE GREAT EMPRESS OF SOUL

Gladys Knight & the Pips

Third day at home. The Grandma is still tired and today she has decided to listen to some music. She has chosen Gladys Knight, the American singer known as the Empress of Soul, one of her favourite singers, and one of the most beautiful voices nowadays.

The Grandma loves American Black Culture and this community has lots of great artists with wonderful and amazing careers. The Grandma loves Soul, Gospel, Blues, RnB, Jazz... It is very difficult to choose only one style or one artist but she wants to talks about Gladys Knight on her 75th anniversary. Congratulations Ms. Knight!

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the Empress of Soul, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her group Gladys Knight & The Pips, which also included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.

Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, Midnight Train to Georgia and That's What Friends Are For, eleven number-one R&B singles, and six number-one R&B albums.

She has won seven Grammy Awards, four as a solo artist and three with the Pips, and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Pips. She also recorded the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill.

Knight is also listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Merald Woodlow Knight Sr., a postal worker, and Sarah Elizabeth. She has a sister, Brenda, one living brother, Merald Jr. and one deceased brother, David.

Gladys Knight, 1954

She first achieved minor fame by winning Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of seven in 1952. That same year, she, her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Elenor Guest formed a musical group called the Pips, named after another cousin, James "Pip" Woods.

By the end of the decade, the act had begun to tour, and had replaced Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest with Gladys Knight's cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George.

In 1961, Knight and her group recorded the single, Every Beat of My Heart, which was written for Knight by R&B producer Johnny Otis. It was released on the tiny Atlanta Huntom label, which was eventually picked up by Vee Jay Records. At the same time, they were also signed with Bobby Robinson's label, Fury Records. Both labels issued different versions of the song, with the Vee Jay/Huntom version becoming a hit and outselling the Fury remake.

After the success of their follow-up, Letter Full of Tears, Fury released their first full-length album. They stayed with Fury through 1962 until signing with Larry Maxwell's Maxx label in 1964, releasing several modest hits produced by Van McCoy, including the original version of Giving Up and Lovers Always Forgive.

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Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966, while the band had no sure hit, and, although initially regarded as a second-string act, scored several major hit singles, including I Heard It Through the Grapevine recorded first by Marvin Gaye, his version not released until 1968, Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me (1967), Friendship Train (1969), If I Were Your Woman (1970), I Don't Want To Do Wrong (1971), the Grammy Award-winning Neither One of Us (1972), and Daddy Could Swear (1973).

Gladys Knight

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 eventually left Motown for a better deal with Buddah Records in 1973, and achieved full-fledged success that year with hits such as the Grammy-winning Midnight Train to Georgia, #1 on the pop and R&B chart, 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 successful film Claudine with producer Curtis Mayfield. The act was particularly successful in Europe, and especially the United Kingdom. However, a number of the Buddah singles became hits in the UK long after their success in the US. For example, Midnight Train to Georgia hit the UK pop charts Top 5 in the summer of 1976, a full three years after its success in the U.S.

During this period of greater recognition, Knight made her motion picture acting debut in the film, Pipe Dreams, a romantic drama set in Alaska. The film failed at the box-office, but Knight did receive a Golden Globe Best New Actress nomination.

More information: @MsGladysKnight

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 (1978) on Buddah and Gladys Knight (1979) on Columbia Records.

Having divorced James Newman II in 1973, Knight married Barry Hankerson, uncle of future hip/hop, R&B singer Aaliyah, 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. Upon their divorce, Hankerson and Knight were embroiled in a heated custody battle over Shanga Ali.

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 (1980) and Touch (1981). During this period, Knight kicked a gambling addiction to the game baccarat.

Gladys Knight

In 1983 Gladys Knight and the Pips scored again with the hit Save The Overtime For Me. The song, under the artistic direction of Leon Sylvers III, known for collaborating on Shalamar hits, was done in a soulful boogie style.

The single was released from their LP Visions and reached number sixty-six 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.

In 1987 Knight decided to pursue a solo career and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together, All Our Love (1987), 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 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

While still with the Pips, Gladys joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1986 AIDS benefit single, That's What Friends Are For, a triple No. 1 mega-hit, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

More information: Classic Motown

In 1989 she recorded the title track Licence to Kill for the James Bond movie Licence to Kill, a Top 10 hit in the UK and Germany.

In April 2004, Knight performed during the VH1's benefit concert Divas Live 2004 alongside Ashanti, Cyndi Lauper, Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone, and Patti LaBelle, in support of the Save the Music Foundation.

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 by various artists so that the producers had a song to compete in the Best Song from a Motion Picture category at the Academy Awards.

In 1996, Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One year before, Knight had received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2007, Knight received the Society of Singers ELLA Award at which time she was declared the Empress of Soul. She is listed on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.

More information: Smooth Radio

Soul is just that inner spirit.

I use that inner spirit for whatever it is I do.

Gladys Knight