Gladys Knight

American singer, leader of the long-lived rhythm and blues pop group "Gladys Knight and The Pips." In 1989, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. On 26 February 1998, they were given the 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in New York City. Originally, Knight went into show business because of family hardships to help support her family and she established herself as a rock and soul singer in the '60s and '70s with hits such as "Midnight Train to Georgia."

Knight was the daughter of Atlanta postal worker, Merald Knight and his wife Elizabeth. At the age of four, Gladys astounded others as a precocious child vocalist soloing at Mount Mariah Baptist Church in Atlanta. In 1952, she appeared on the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" after winning a national talent contest at Madison Square Garden in New York. That same year, she formed "The Pips" with her older brother Bubba and her cousins. When she was 13, her dad suffered a nervous breakdown and Knight hit the show business circuit with her backup singers to earn a living.

In 1960, at the age of 16, Knight found herself pregnant by Atlanta musician Jimmy Newman. The couple married and soon after Knight experienced a devastating miscarriage. The marriage was in trouble financially but the couple continued to persevere through a difficult time. Knight gave birth to son Jimmy in 1962 and daughter Kenya in 1964. When her husband became addicted to drugs, he soon abandoned his wife and young kids, ending the marriage in divorce. Disaster struck with Jimmy Jr., her 36-year-old son, died following a two day alcohol-induced cocaine binge. He died in his sleep on 10 July 1999 of a drug overdose in Las Vegas, NV.

After a decade of club dates around the country, "Gladys Knight and The Pips" scored a hit with "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," 1967. The song made it to the top of the pop charts.