Gladys Knight is a famous American songwriter, singer, actress, businesswoman and author whose career in the industry span many decades.
The Empress of Soul is well-known since the 1960s for her hits alongside her group called Gladys Knight & the Pips. With two of her songs: Midnight Train to Georgia and That’s What Friends Are For, peaking at number one on Billboard Hot 100 singles; eleven number-one R&B singles, and six number-one R&B albums, it is no wonder she is listed among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine.
Knight is also the voice behind the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill.
Career
Born in Atlanta, Georgia on May 28, 1944, to parents: Merald Woodrow Knight Sr., a postal worker, and Sarah Elizabeth, Gladys Knight grew up among her three siblings: Brenda, Merald Jr. and late brother, David.
She was set on the path to entertainment since the age of seven when she won Ted Mack’s The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest in 1952. It was the same year that the Pips were formed and several years later, they were already on tour.
Their singles include Every Beat of My Heart, Letter Full of Tears, the original version of Giving Up as well as Lovers Always Forgive. Knight and the Pips had a successful career from the 1960s way into the late ’70s when the group disbanded due to legal issues.
Although she united with the group to release more hit songs, Knight finally went solo in 1987 after they recorded their final LP, All Our Love. Their lead single, Love Overboard became number one hit on R&B and won another Grammy award.
As a solo artist, she collaborates with other artists like Elton John, Dionne Warwick and Stevie Wonder on the 1986 AIDS benefit single, That’s What Friends Are For which became a triple No. 1 mega-hit and won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Group With Vocal.
Her solo performance includes a rendition of America the Beautiful at Wrestlemania 4 in Atlantic City, NJ; the national anthem at Game 1 of the World Series; the VH1‘s benefit concert Divas Live 2004, alongside other artists like Jessica Simpson, Ashanti etc.
Knight sang The Lord’s Prayer and His Eye Is On The Sparrow at the funeral service for the late King of Pop Michael Jackson in 2009. Her album Where My Heart Belongs (2014) marked her 30th top 40 R&B album, including work by Gladys Knight & the Pips.
In an interview that year, Knight expressed her sadness towards the growing trend of naked fashion and hoped that women would stand for what’s right and stop selling sex in the entertainment industry.
Despite her achievements including ranking number eighteen among 100 Greatest Women of Rock on VH1 network’s list, Gladys Knight, like many other famous musicians, had faced her share of criticism. Knight faced backlash in 2019 when she accepted the invitation to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIII after Colin Kaepernick was blacklisted by the NFL for protesting police brutality. She defended her decision and criticised the San Fransisco 49ers former quarterback for kneeling during the national anthem.
The same year Knight received an invitation to play at the 100th Anniversary of Delaware State Fair, in Harrington, Delaware. She’s not only a singer, but Knight also has featured in tons of films and tv shows plus an Honorary Doctorate in Performing Arts, from Shaw University.
How many Grammy Awards does Gladys Knight have?
So far Gladys Knight has seven Grammy Awards to her name; four as a solo artist and three with her group, the Pips: made up of her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and two cousins William Guest and Edward Patten.
She and Pips are inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1996 and Knight had since received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995.
In all, Knight has won seven awards and fifteen nominations.
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Gladys Knight Spouse
Gladys Knight is married to William McDowell since 2001 and the couple lives in North Carolina where they run the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County. With seventeen grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, Knight and McDowell are certainly surrounded by their loved one.
Meanwhile, McDowell is not Knight’s fourth husband. She has been married four times with three children; two from her first marriage at age 16, to now-deceased Atlanta musician James “Jimmy” Newman from 1960 to 1973.
A later (1n 1974), she married Barry Hankerson who is the uncle of late R&B singer Aaliyah, in Detroit and had a son, Shanga Hankerson before the marriage ended in 1979 with a prolonged custody battle over their son. Not giving up on love, Knight went on to marry motivational speaker Les Brown in 1995 but the union lasted only two years.
Amidst fame and fortune, Gladys Knight suffered from a gambling addiction for over a decade (in the 1980s) and had to seek rehab after losing $60,000 in one night at the baccarat table.
Nevertheless, the 75-year old Empress of Soul has built a legacy worthy of severance from thousands of fans across the globe.
