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Gladys Knight

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Gladys Knight
Knight in 1997
Knight in 1997
Background information
Birth nameGladys Maria Knight
Also known asThe Empress of Soul
Born (1944-05-28) May 28, 1944 (age 80)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actress
Years active1948–present
Labels

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul",[1][2] is an American singer. A ten-time Grammy Award-winner,[3] 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.

Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles ("Midnight Train to Georgia" and "That's What Friends Are For" which she did with Dionne Warwick, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder), 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 and Vocal Group Hall of Fame along with The Pips. Two of her songs ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia") were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value.[4][5] She also recorded the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Knight among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[6] She is also a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors.

Early life

Knight was born in Atlanta to Merald Woodlow Knight Sr., a postal worker, and Sarah Elizabeth (née Woods).[7][8] She has a sister, Brenda,[9] one living brother, Merald "Bubba" Knight, Jr.,[10][11] and one deceased brother, David "Billy" Knight.[12] She won Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest on July 1, 1952 at the age of eight.[13] That same year, Gladys, her brother Bubba, sister Brenda, and their cousins Eleanor and William Guest began performing together during Bubba's tenth birthday party after a record player malfunctioned. Soon, the quintet agreed to form a group at the urging of Gladys' mother Elizabeth Knight.[10]

The group settled on the name The Pips, inspired by the nickname of their cousin James "Pip" Woods.[14] Later on, Brenda and Eleanor left.

Later in 1961, the quintet released the single "Letter Full of Tears", which became another top-40 hit in early 1962. After releasing a string of singles on Fury Records, Langston George left the group in 1962.[15] That same year, Knight left the group to start a family with musician and husband Jimmy Newman.

Success with the Pips

Knight in 1974

Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966 (with only three hits to their credit - "Every Beat of My Heart", "Giving Up" and "Letter Full of Tears"),[16] and, although initially regarded as a second-string act by the label, scored several major hit singles, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1967) (released later by Marvin Gaye), "The Nitty Gritty" (1969), "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 (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" (1972), and "Daddy Could Swear (I Declare)" (1973). 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.[17]

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" (#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 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. A number 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 (1978) on Buddah and Gladys Knight (1979) on Columbia Records. After divorcing 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. 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" (previously a hit for Mathis) and "The Lord's Prayer".

Knight and the Pips perform aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger in November 1981

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), which included the hit "Landlord" and Touch (1981).

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. 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 My Book)".

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[18] in 1989, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[19] 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 triple No. 1 mega-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. 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 No. 1 on the R&B album chart, featured the No. 2 R&B hit "Men", and reached No. 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.[20]

Knight created and directs the Mormon-themed choir Saints Unified Voices.[21] 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.[22]

In September 2011, a new, updated recording of Shirley Bassey's 1960s classic "I (Who Have Nothing)" was released on iTunes and Amazon.[23]

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.[24]

Gladys Knight receiving her Kennedy Center Honor (2022)

Where My Heart Belongs (2014) marked her 30th top-40 R&B album, including work by Gladys Knight & the Pips.[25] 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."[26] Knight is ranked number eighteen 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.[27] 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.[28] Similar criticism was expressed against the half-time show performers, Maroon 5, Travis Scott, and Big Boi.[29] Knight defended her decision to sing, claiming to understand Kaepernick's reasons for protesting but criticizing him for kneeling during the national anthem.[30][31]

In 2019, Knight was invited to play at the 100th Anniversary of Delaware State Fair, located in Harrington, Delaware.[32]

In 2022, Knight received Kennedy Center Honors, presented by U.S. President Joe Biden.[33][34] She also headlined a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Dinner at the White House.[35]

UK Farewell Tour

In October 2009, Knight started her farewell tour of the United Kingdom,[36] which featured Tito Jackson as her supporting act and special appearances by Dionne Warwick.

The UK Farewell Tour featured higher production values than previous "Gladys Knight, a mic and a light" appearances by Knight in the UK. A glossy program was available and the show featured pre-produced animation on large on-stage screens. The tour was promoted by an appearance on the TV program Later... with Jools Holland where Knight performed "If I Were Your Woman" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night".

In spite of her "farewell", Knight started touring the UK again a few years later, playing gigs in Scotland and England in 2015,[37] 2016,[38] 2017,[39] 2019, 2022[40] and 2024.[41]

Acting

Film

In 1976, Knight made her acting debut as the lead in the film Pipe Dreams for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.[42] In 2003, she had a small role in the movie Hollywood Homicide, which starred Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. In 2009, Knight was featured in Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself, the film version of a play he had dramatized, and performed her song "The Need To Be" from the 1974 album I Feel a Song.

Television

In 1975, Knight starred in a variety show, The Gladys Knight and the Pips Show, which was canceled after four episodes. She also guest-starred on several TV series throughout the 1980s and 1990s, appearing on Benson, The Jeffersons, A Different World, Living Single, The Jamie Foxx Show, and New York Undercover. In 1985, she co-starred on the CBS sitcom Charlie & Co., alongside comedian Flip Wilson, which lasted for one season.

In April 2005, she portrayed a singer in an episode of JAG. In April 2009, she made a special guest appearance, and performed a song, on Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Knight has also made a number of cameo appearances, including on Las Vegas and 30 Rock. In 2012, she began a recurring role in the syndicated sitcom The First Family.

In 2012, Knight competed on season 14 of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Tristan MacManus. They were eliminated on April 24 after losing a "dance duel" to Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan and partner Chelsie Hightower, ironically on the show's "Motown Week".[43]

In 2017, she appeared as herself in the musical-drama TV series Star.[44]

In 2018, she played Ella Grover, mother of Captain Lou Grover, in the "Lele pū nā manu like" ("Birds of a Feather...") episode of Hawaii Five-0, which first aired on November 16, 2018.[45]

In February 2019, she was revealed to have competed as "Bee" on The Masked Singer, in which she placed third.[46] She performed "Chandelier", "Locked Out of Heaven", "Wrecking Ball", "What's Love Got to Do with It", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", and "I Can't Make You Love Me". She finished behind Donny Osmond as "Peacock" and T-Pain as "Monster".

Business ventures

Knight and Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles in Atlanta

Knight's son Shanga Hankerson owns a chain of chicken and waffles restaurants based in Atlanta, bearing her name.[47] Gladys Knight & Ron Winans' Chicken & Waffles opened three locations in the Atlanta area. One location was featured on the Travel Channel original series Man v. Food.[48] In June 2016, authorities in Georgia raided two of the restaurants and its headquarters.[49]

In 2016, WSB-TV reported that Hankerson was at the center of an investigation involving unpaid taxes, penalties and interest. Georgia Department of Revenue Special Investigations Chief Jeff Mitchell told the station that the investigation solely involved Hankerson and not Knight.[49]

Personal life

Knight in 2016

Knight has been married four times and has three children. At 16 years old, she became pregnant and married Atlanta musician and classmate James "Jimmy" Newman in 1960.[50] She had a miscarriage; the couple went on to have two children. Newman became a drug addict and abandoned the family when Knight was 20. They remained married for over 12 years until 1973.[50] Their son, James "Jimmy" Gaston Newman III was born on August 13, 1962.[51] She retired from the road to raise their child while the Pips toured on their own. In November 1963, Knight had her only daughter, Kenya Maria Newman. Later she returned to recording with the Pips in order to support her family.

In the early 1960s, Gladys, James, and the Pips moved to Detroit. Knight and her family lived on Sherbourne Road in Sherwood Forest, an upscale neighborhood on Detroit's West Side. She resided on LaSalle Avenue for a time. Her children attended Gesu Catholic Grade School. After being separated seven years, Knight divorced Newman in 1973,[52] and he died a few years later.[53]

In 1974, Knight married Barry Hankerson, who created Blackground Records, the label that signed his niece, the R&B singer Aaliyah, to a record deal, in Detroit. The couple had one son, Shanga Ali Hankerson, born on August 1, 1976. Around 1977, they relocated to Atlanta. The Pips remained in Detroit. Their marriage ended in 1979 with a prolonged custody battle over their son.[53] Knight spent over a million dollars looking for her son after he was kidnapped.[54]

In 1995, Knight married motivational speaker Les Brown,[55] but they separated and divorced in 1997.[56]

Knight suffered through a gambling addiction that lasted more than a decade. In the late 1980s, after losing $60,000 in one night at the baccarat table, she joined Gamblers Anonymous, which helped her quit the habit.[54]

Previously a Baptist and later a Catholic, in 1997 she was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, following her son and daughter leaving Catholicism to join.[57][58][59] She had occasionally teased LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley, saying his flock needed to inject some "pep" into their music.[60] He agreed, which resulted in the Grammy Award-winning Saints Unified Voices gospel music choir being formed. Knight later led the Be One Choir at "Be One 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Revelation on the Priesthood."[61]

Knight's son Jimmy Newman managed her career through his Newman Management Inc. until his death from heart failure on July 10, 1999, at age 36.[62] Newman was survived by his wife, Michelene; daughters Nastasia and Gabrielle; and sons Rishawn, Stefan, and Sterling.[51]

Knight married William McDowell in 2001.[63] They have seventeen grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren between them.[64] Knight and McDowell reside in Fairview, North Carolina, near where they own a community center, the former Reynolds High School in Canton attended by McDowell.[65][66]

In 2017, Knight helped raise $400,000 for the Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County. The event was held at the Palace Theatre and was co-hosted by Carol Anne Riddell and Alan Kalter.[67]

Legacy

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.[68] In 2021, Knight received the National Medal of Arts. And, in 2022, Knight received a Kennedy Center Honor.[69]

Discography

Studio albums

Published works

  • Knight, Gladys. At Home With Gladys Knight, McGraw-Hill, 2001 – ISBN 1-58040-075-2
  • Knight, Gladys. Between Each Line of Pain and Glory: My Life Story, Hyperion Press, 1998 – ISBN 0-7868-8371-5

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
1976 Pipe Dreams Maria Wilson Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress nominee
1987 Desperado Mona Lisa
1993 Twenty Bucks Mrs. McCormic
2003 Hollywood Homicide Olivia Robidoux
2006 Unbeatable Harold Phyllis
2006 Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen Candie (voice)
2009 I Can Do Bad All by Myself Wilma Performed "The Need To Be" from the 1974 album I Feel a Song
2014 Seasons of Love Ms. Angie Holiday movie
2016 Almost Christmas Dorothy, Shelter Director
2021 Coming 2 America Herself
2022 I'm Glad It's Christmas Cora Lawson, Businesswoman Holiday movie

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1981 The Muppet Show Herself Season 5, episode 16
1983 The Jeffersons Herself "The Good Life" (season 9: episode 20)
1985–1986 Charlie & Co. Diana Richmond 18 episodes
1987 CBS Schoolbreak Special Dr. Donna Robinson "An Enemy Among Us" (season 4, episode 7)
1988 A Different World Herself "Three Girls Three" (season 2, episode 5)
1994 New York Undercover Natalie 2 episodes
1997 Living Single Odelle Jones 2 episodes
1999 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Chocolate "The Bremen Town Musicians" (season 3, episode 3)
1996–2001 The Jamie Foxx Show Janice King 11 episodes
2003 American Juniors Herself / Judge
2005 JAG Etta "Unknown Soldier" (season 10, episode 20)
2008 30 Rock Herself "210" (season 2, episode 10)
2009 House of Payne Herself "The Talent Show" (season 5, episode 20)
2012–2013 The First Family Grandma Carolyn 9 episodes
2015 Hot in Cleveland Miss Shonda 1 episode
2017 Star Herself 2 episodes
2018 Hawaii Five-0 Ella Grover "Lele pū nā manu like" ("Birds of a Feather...")[70]
2019 The Masked Singer Bee/Herself Third place

Awards, honors, and achievements

Grammy Awards

Knight has won ten Grammys with twenty-two nominations altogether.[71]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1967 "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (award for Knight, performance by Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Nominated
1969 "Friendship Train" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1971 "If I Were Your Woman" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1972 "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1973 "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Won
"Midnight Train To Georgia" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Won
1974 "I Feel A Song (In My Heart)" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1975 "The Way We Were"/"Try to Remember" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1977 "Baby Don't Change Your Mind" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1980 About Love (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
1986 "That's What Friends Are For" (Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder) Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Won
"That's What Friends Are For" (Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder) Record of the Year Nominated
1988 "Love Overboard" (Gladys Knight And the Pips) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Won
1991 "Superwoman" (Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle & Dionne Warwick) Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
Good Woman Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Nominated
1994 Just for You Best R&B Album Nominated
"I Don't Want to Know" Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female Nominated
1996 "Missing You" (Brandy, Tamia, Gladys Knight & Chaka Khan) Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Nominated
1999 Many Different Roads Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album Nominated
2001 At Last Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album Won
2004 "Heaven Help Us All" (Gladys Knight & Ray Charles) Best Gospel Performance Won
2005 One Voice (Gladys Knight & Saints Unified Voices) Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album Won

Other awards and honors

Honorary degrees

References

  1. ^ a b "The Voice, Winter 2007, Society of Singer's 16th Ella Awards" (PDF). Singers.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 27, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
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  3. ^ "Gladys Knight". Grammy.com. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "GRAMMY Awards: Here Are the 2018 GRAMMY Hall of Fame Inductees". 1077theend.com. January 16, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "GRAMMY Living History Moments With Gladys Knight". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. November 19, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  6. ^ "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. December 3, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  7. ^ Grantham, Loretta (November 11, 1999). "Knight's Quest: End Diabetes, For Mom's Sake". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  8. ^ McClure, Rhonda R. (October 25, 2001). "Ancestry of Gladys Knight". Genealogy.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  9. ^ Lordi, Emily (August 13, 2021). "The Misunderstood Talent of Gladys Knight". www.newyorker.com.
  10. ^ a b Houghton, Cillea (April 19, 2023). "All in the Family: The Origins of Gladys Knight & the Pips". American Songwriter.
  11. ^ "AAPRC | Bubba Knight's Story: Through the Eyes of a Pip".
  12. ^ "'Billy' Knight, brother of Gladys, dies at age 55". lasvegassun.com. December 6, 2002.
  13. ^ "Happy birthday, Gladys Knight! See her life in pictures". www.usatoday.com. May 28, 2019.
  14. ^ "Five things you might not know about Gladys Knight". Knoxville News Sentinel. June 9, 2017.
  15. ^ "Langston George obituary". Legacy.com. March 22, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
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  23. ^ "Information on and review of the new single". The4thpip.blogspot.com. September 29, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
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  29. ^ Greene, David; Quiroz, Lilly (January 18, 2019). "Even With Rappers Set To Perform, Super Bowl's Halftime Show Remains Tone-Deaf". Morning Edition. NPR.
  30. ^ Aswad, Jem (January 17, 2019). "Gladys Knight Comments on Colin Kaepernick and Super Bowl: 'I Am Here to Give the Anthem Back Its Voice'". 'I understand that Mr. Kaepernick is protesting two things, and they are police violence and injustice,' she wrote. 'It is unfortunate that our National Anthem has been dragged into this debate when the distinctive senses of the National Anthem and fighting for justice should each stand alone. I am here today and on Sunday, Feb. 3 to give the Anthem back its voice, to stand for that historic choice of words, the way it unites us when we hear it and to free it from the same prejudices and struggles I have fought long and hard for all my life, from walking back hallways, from marching with our social leaders, from using my voice for good — I have been in the forefront of this battle longer than most of those voicing their opinions to win the right to sing our country's Anthem on a stage as large as the Super Bowl LIII.'
  31. ^ "Gladys Knight Sings Super Bowl National Anthem". GRAMMY.com. February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
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  43. ^ O'Connell, Mikey (April 24, 2012). "The 'Dancing With the Stars' Elimination Duel Claims Another". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
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  45. ^ Reporter, Kimberly C. Roberts Entertainment (November 16, 2018). "Gladys Knight, Lou Gossett hit 'Hawaii Five-O' for Thanksgiving". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  46. ^ Spellberg, Claire (February 28, 2019). "'The Masked Singer' Finale Reveals T-Pain, Gladys Knight, and Donny Osmond". Decider. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  47. ^ "Light System In Chicken & Waffles Restaurant – Official Site". Archived from the original on January 19, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  48. ^ Family Business – Gladys Knight co-owner of restaurant in Atlanta. Jet December 11, 2000
  49. ^ a b "Georgia officials raid Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles restaurants". Fox News. June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  50. ^ a b Dougherty, Steve (December 8, 1997). "Pain and Glory". People.
  51. ^ a b "Record exec, entertainment manager Newman dies". LasVegasSun.com. July 13, 1999. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
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