Gladys Knight Bio (Biography)
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Biography
Move over super model Gisele Bundchen, make way for the other Guinness Book of World Records holder Gladys Knight who is ranked in the 2005 edition as number 18 on the list of most successful female music artists of all time.
The starting point for the rhythm and blues singing diva and actress?
For singing on stage, it was the age of four when she wowed family and friends with her performance at the Mount Mariah Baptist Church in Atlanta.
For the career that the rest of the world knows about, it was when she turned eight and won a prize for her performance on the televised Ted Mack Amateur Hour. From that point forward, Gladys Knight and the Pips were a done deal. By the end of the decade, the Pips were already touring.
In 1960, Knight's career took on a change of pace as she discovered she was pregnant. She married her boyfriend at the time Jimmy Newman and later had a miscarriage. Knight immediately returned to performing with the Pips.
By the time the group's second hit Letter Full of Tears had been released, Knight was pregnant again. She decided to retire from the road to raise her family so the Pips toured on their own. In 1964, Knight gave birth to her second child, daughter Kenya, and she was back on the road again to support her children's needs.
Two years later, the band signed with Motown and the hits started coming. I Heard It Through the Grapevine, The Nitty Gritty, Friendship Train and If I Were Your Woman all did well on the song charts.
But Knight and her costars wanted something better so they left Motown for Buddah Records in 1973. At that point they were releasing their biggest hits like Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me and Midnight Train to Georgia, their only hit that went to number one.
Capitalizing on their popularity, Knight tried acting for a short time and released the film Pipe Dreams, a romantic drama set in Alaska. The film was a box office flop so Knight went back to doing what she knew best.
After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Gladys Knight began her career as a solo artist. Separated from the pack, Knight was more versatile in her career and did everything from making guest appearance on a number of different television shows to releasing her own solo albums.
In 2006, Knight won her seventh Grammy award in the category of Best Gospel Choir for the One Voice CD with the Saints Unified Voices. That same year she was also awarded the Legendary Award by the Las Vegas Music Awards.
The starting point for the rhythm and blues singing diva and actress?
For singing on stage, it was the age of four when she wowed family and friends with her performance at the Mount Mariah Baptist Church in Atlanta.
For the career that the rest of the world knows about, it was when she turned eight and won a prize for her performance on the televised Ted Mack Amateur Hour. From that point forward, Gladys Knight and the Pips were a done deal. By the end of the decade, the Pips were already touring.
In 1960, Knight's career took on a change of pace as she discovered she was pregnant. She married her boyfriend at the time Jimmy Newman and later had a miscarriage. Knight immediately returned to performing with the Pips.
By the time the group's second hit Letter Full of Tears had been released, Knight was pregnant again. She decided to retire from the road to raise her family so the Pips toured on their own. In 1964, Knight gave birth to her second child, daughter Kenya, and she was back on the road again to support her children's needs.
Two years later, the band signed with Motown and the hits started coming. I Heard It Through the Grapevine, The Nitty Gritty, Friendship Train and If I Were Your Woman all did well on the song charts.
But Knight and her costars wanted something better so they left Motown for Buddah Records in 1973. At that point they were releasing their biggest hits like Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me and Midnight Train to Georgia, their only hit that went to number one.
Capitalizing on their popularity, Knight tried acting for a short time and released the film Pipe Dreams, a romantic drama set in Alaska. The film was a box office flop so Knight went back to doing what she knew best.
After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Gladys Knight began her career as a solo artist. Separated from the pack, Knight was more versatile in her career and did everything from making guest appearance on a number of different television shows to releasing her own solo albums.
In 2006, Knight won her seventh Grammy award in the category of Best Gospel Choir for the One Voice CD with the Saints Unified Voices. That same year she was also awarded the Legendary Award by the Las Vegas Music Awards.