Name	Gladys Knight
Height	5' 3½"
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	28 May 1944
Place of Birth	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Famous for

After winning the TV show contest Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour, Gladys Knight formed The Pips with her siblings and recorded “Every Beat of My Heart” (1961) with the help of singer/music producer Bobby Robinson. When the single was released under Vee-Jay Records, it shot up to the peak of the R&B charts and became a No.6 pop hit. In 1962, Langston George left the group and the musical act was then billed as Gladys Knight & the Pips, with Knight as the lead vocalist and the Pips (her three cousins) as the backup singers.

Knight and her group scored their second hit, “Letter Full of Tears,” in 1962. It led to their signing to Motown Records in 1966, which helped endorse the group’s hit songs: “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1967), “The Nitty Gritty” (1969), “Friendship Train” (1969), “If I Were Your Woman” (1970), “I Don’t Want To Do Wrong” (1971), the Grammy-winning “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” (1972) and “Daddy Could Swear (I Declare)” (1973). Since they were regarded as a second-string act, Knight and the Pips left Motown and joined Buddah Records.

With the new partner, Knight and her group won a Grammy for their No.1 pop hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” (1973), as well as hit the charts with “I've Got to Use My Imagination” and “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” The greater success brought Knight to the acting world, where she first appeared as Maria Wilson in the drama Pipe Dreams (1976) and immediately earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture (Female). Following some legal issues with the record company, Knight released her first solo recordings, Miss Gladys Knight (1978) and Gladys Knight (1979), which spawned the singles “I’m Coming Home Again” (1978), “It’s A Better Than Good Time” (1978) and “Am I Too Late” (1979). The solo attempt, however, did not make a significant impact.

Rejoining The Pips, Knight returned to the top of the R&B charts with “Save the Overtime (For Me)” (1983). She also guest starred as herself in two sitcoms, “The Jeffersons” (1983) and “Benson” (1984), before being cast as a regular in the short-lived series “Charlie and Co.” (1985, starred as Diana Richmond).

Knight took a crack at producing with the TV special music program Sisters in the Name of Love (1986, received a CableACE nomination for Performance in a Music Special), in which she also performed with Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick and more. The same year, Knight recorded the Grammy-winning AIDS benefit single “That’s What Friends Are For” (1986) with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and more.

With The Pips, Knight took home her next Grammy for the single “Love Overboard” (1987) and had a successful tour in 1988. Yet, the Pips decided to retire, giving way to Knight’s solo career. Before long, the singer slipped her name on the UK chart thanks to “License to Kill” (1989), the theme song for the James Bond movie with the same title.

Within two years, Knight issued her third album, Good Woman (1991), which ruled the R&B album chart. It featured “Men” (R&B No.2 hit), “Meet Me in the Middle” and “Where Would I Be” (1992). She also had the supporting role of Mrs. McCormac in the comedy movie Twenty Bucks (1993) and took part in several first episodes of “New York Undercover” (1994, played Natalie).

Knight’s fourth studio album, Just for You (1994), fared even better with gold certification and a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album. Subsequent to the album Many Different Roads (1998), the artist eventually won a Grammy after launching At Last (2001). In the meantime, Knight appeared with minor roles in series like “Living Single” (1997) and “The Jamie Foxx Show” (1997, 2001), as well as in the movie Hollywood Homicide (2003, as Olivia Robidoux) and Unbeatable Harold (2005, played Phyllis).

As a devotee of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Knight set up the choir group Saints Unified Voices and recorded One Voice (2005), which gave her another Grammy. The recipient of the 2005 BET Lifetime Achievement award also shared a Grammy with Ray Charles thanks to their duet in the gospel song “Heaven Help Us All,” taken from Charles’ album, Genius Loves Company. Recently, the singer performed at the 2006 musical tribute to Coretta Scott King, the wife of activist Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary.