Gladys Knight
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- "The Pips" redirects here. For the BBC pips, see Greenwich Time Signal.
Gladys Knight (born May 28, 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a legendary African-American R&B/soul singer and actress. She is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s and 1970s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, the most famous incarnation of which also included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.
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Biography
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Knight first zoomed to minor fame by winning Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of 7 in 1952, due to her powerful singing voice. Her real fame started with The Pips in 1961 with the single "Every Beat of My Heart", a #1 R&B and #6 pop hit for Vee-Jay Records. In spite of a few more hits, Knight and the Pips did not achieve widespread success until 1966, after signing to Motown. While at Motown in 1968, Gladys Knight was the first person to suggest that Berry Gordy sign an up and coming act from Gary, Indiana called The Jackson 5. Gordy was reluctant to take on a kid act, however, and the Jackson 5 were not signed to Motown until Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers and Suzanne de Passe physically brought the Jacksons to Detroit, Michigan and Motown.
One of the group's first Motown singles, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", was a #2 pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and a #1 R&B hit. Future hits included "Friendship Train" (one of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong's "psychedelic soul" songs), "I Don't Wanna Do Wrong", "If I Were Your Woman", and "Daddy Could Swear (I Declare)". Their biggest Motown hit was 1972's #1 R&B/#2 pop hit "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)". That single also happened to be their last Motown hit, as Knight and the Pips departed Motown for Buddah Records in 1973, citing Motown's lack of promotion and favoritism towards other Motown acts such as Diana Ross and The Temptations.
Recording for Buddah in the mid 1970s, the group hit its popular and critical peak with #1 R&B hits such as "Midnight Train to Georgia" (their only #1 pop hit), "I've Got to Use My Imagination", and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me". Knight and the Pips continued to have hits until the late 1970s. During the late 1970s, Knight and the Pips were forced to record seperately sue to legal problems with Buddah. After a dry spell, they returned to the charts in the 1980s with the #1 R&B hits "Save the Overtime (For Me)" (1983) and "Love Overboard" (1987).
After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Gladys Knight began a career as a solo artist. Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and Ms. Knight continues to tour and record occasionally.
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Solo career
While still with The Pips, Knight also joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1986 AIDS benefit single, "That's What Friends Are For". In 1989, Gladys Knight recorded the title track for the James Bond movie Licence to Kill.
Gladys Knight's third solo LP was Good Woman, released in 1991 and featuring the #2 R&B hit "men". Her fourth solo LP, Just for You, went gold and was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Her 2001 LP, At Last, won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
Knight joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997. She has occasionally teased the LDS Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, that his flock needs to inject some "pep" into their music. Ms. Knight created and now directs the LDS (Mormon) choir Saints Unified Voices [1] (http://www.suvchoir.org). SUV has released a CD entitled One Voice, and occasionally performs at LDS stake firesides.
Trivia
- In 1987, Knight acknowledged a gambling addiction to the game baccarat. She finally called Gamblers Anonymous when she lost $45,000 in one night.
- Gladys Knight was at one time married to Barry Hankerson, uncle of singer Aaliyah.
Discography
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Singles
Gladys Knight & the Pips
- 1961: "Every Beat Of My Heart" (credited as The Pips, US #6)
- 1962: "Letter Full Of Tears" (US #19)
- 1962: "Operator" (US #97)
- 1964: "Giving Up" (US #38)
- 1964: "Lovers Always Forgive" (US #89)
- Soul (Motown) releases
- 1967: "Everybody Needs Love" (US #39)
- 1967: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (US #2)
- 1967: "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me" (US #98)
- 1968: "I Wish It Would Rain" (US #41)
- 1968: "It Should Have Been Me" (US #40)
- 1968: "The End of Our Road" (US #15)
- 1969: "Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime)" (US #63)
- 1969: "Friendship Train" (US #17)
- 1969: "The Nitty Gritty" (US #19)
- 1970: "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)" (US #25)
- 1971: "I Don't Want to Do Wrong" (US #17)
- 1971: "If I Were Your Woman" (US #9)
- 1972: "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (US #33)
- 1972: "Make Me the Woman That You Go Home To" (US #27)
- 1973: "All I Need is Time" (US #61)
- 1973: "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare" (US #19)
- 1973: "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)" (US #2)
- 1974: "Between Her Goodbye and My Hello" (US #57)
- Buddah releases
- 1973: "Midnight Train To Georgia" (US #1)
- 1973: "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" (US #28)
- 1974: "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" (US #3)
- 1974: "Don't Burn Down the Bridge" (US #21)
- 1974: "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" (US #21)
- 1974: "I've Got to Use My Imagination" (US #4)
- 1974: "On and On" (US #5)
- 1975: "Love Finds Its Own Way" (US #47)
- 1975: "Money" (US #50)
- 1975: "Part Time Love" (US #22)
- 1975: "The Way We Were"/"Try To Remember" (US #11)
- 1976: "So Sad the Song" (US #47)
- 1977: "Baby Don't Change Your Mind" (US #52)
- Columbia releases
- 1980: "Landlord" (US #46)
- 1980: "A Taste of Bitter Love"
- 1981: "I Will Fight"
- 1983: "Save the Overtime (For Me)" (US #66)
- 1986: "Loving on Borrowed Time (Love Theme from Cobra)"
- MCA releases
- 1987: "Love Overboard" (US #13)
- 1988: "Lovin' on Next to Nothin'"
Gladys Knight
- 1978: "I'm Coming Home Again"
- 1978: "It's A Better Than Good Time"
- 1978: "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right"
- 1978: "The One and Only"
- 1979: "Am I Too Late"
- 1989: "Licence to Kill"
- 1991: "Meet Me in the Middle"
- 1991: "Men"
- 1992: "Where Would I Be"
- 1994: "End of the Road" Medley: "If You Don't Know Me by Now"/"Love Don't Love Nobody"
- 1994: "I Don't Want to Know"
- 1995: "Next Time"
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Albums
Gladys Knight & the Pips
- Soul (Motown) releases
- 1967 : Everybody Needs Love
- 1968 : Feelin' Bluesy
- 1969 : Nitty Gritty
- 1969 : Silk N' Soul
- 1970 : Gladys Knight & the Pips' Greatest Hits
- 1971 : If I Were You're Woman
- 1972 : Standing Ovation
- 1973 : Neither One Of Us
- Buddah releases
- 1973 : Imagination
- 1974 : I Feel A Song
- 1974 : Claudine
- 1974 : The Lost Live Album (released in 1996)
- 1975 : 2nd Anniversary
- 1981 : Touch (Columbia Records)
- 1983 : Visions (Columbia Records)
- 1985 : Life (Columbia Records)
- 1987 : All Our Love (MCA Records)
Gladys Knight
- Buddah release
- 1978 : The One & Only
- 1979 : Miss Gladys Knight(Columbia Records)
- 1991 : Good Woman (MCA Records)
- 1994 : Just For You (MCA Records)
- 1997 : Workin' Overtime (Sony Music)
- 1998 : One More Lonely Night (Pegasus Flight Productions)
- 1999 : Many Different Roads' (MCA Records)
- 2000 : At Last (MCA Records)
- 2003 : Hall Of Fame: Gladys Knight (Laserlight)
The Pips
- Casablanca release
- 1978: At Last The Pips
- 1978: Calling
Filmography
- Save the Children (1973) (documentary)
- Pipe Dreams (1976)
- Twenty Bucks (1993)
- The Messiah XXI (2000) (documentary)
- Hollywood Homicide (2003)
- Unbeatable Harold (2005) (currently in post-production)
External links
- Official website (http://www.mcarecords.com/artistMain.asp?artistid=50)
- Gladys Knight (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0460912/) at the Internet Movie Database
- Saints Unified Voices (http://www.suvchoir.org/)
- Article explaining the creation of Saints Unified Voices (http://www.suvchoir.org/storyarticle.html)de:Gladys Knight