Georgian-born singer and songwriter Gladys Knight is known around the world as the "Empress of Soul".Her musical credits include performing with her band Gladys Knight and The Pips for almost four decades, and her Grammy-winning solo career. Her personal life has also been quite newsworthy, qs she has been married no less than four times! Here are some gripping facts about this talented soul singer who has led an inspiring life so far.
In the BeginningBorn on 28 May 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia, Gladys was only four years old when her parents, Merald Knight Sr and Sarah Elizabeth Knight, organized for their youngest daughter to perform at a church recital. This would be her first official performance as a singer in front of an audience. At the time Gladys was so young she had no idea that singing was such a big deal. She loved to sing and considered it to be just an extension of playtime. She would continue to perform in church choirs throughout the '40s and '50s.
Singing With Family
In 1952 her mother Sarah Elizabeth helped her daughter form a singing group they named The Little Knight Group. It consisted of Gladys, aged eight at the time, her older sister Brenda, her brother Bubba, her cousins Eleanor and William, and another cousin whom everyone just called Pip.
Gladys Knight young
Their first paying gig was at Bubba's tenth birthday party at the local YMCA, and it was only because the record player had stopped working. They were paid $10 to sing in front of the party's guests.
Winning a Talent Show
The same year that Gladys joined The Little Knight Group, she also participated in a talent show hosted by Ted Mack on his show Ted Mack & The Original Amateur Hour. Gladys' aunt called up the show and got her niece to perform. The then eight-year-old won the competition and walked home with a massive trophy and a cash prize of $2000. This was a pretty big deal in the '50s, and a lot more money than Knight ever could have earned at the church socials and children's birthday parties.
Indecent Behavior
Even someone as angelic and as young as Gladys Knight could not avoid the horrific realities of racism in the '50s. After winning the contest, of which she was the only African American to enter, Knight was presented with a trophy that was bigger than herself. The producers of the show asked that the other contestants kindly help the little girl to carry her trophy from the stage, but the white parents refused to let their children help Knight with her prize.
Ted Mack's Decency
Despite being treated atrociously by the parents of the other contestants on his show, Ted Mack was not going to allow his winner to be embarrassed and ridiculed further. The host of Ted Mack & The Original Amateur Hour would show both decency and moral integrity. According to Knight, Mack saw the cruelty inflicted on her, and so in every photograph of the event, the host can be seen helping the little girl carry the huge trophy across the stage.
Knight's Idols
Gladys Knight may be a star in her own right, but that doesn't mean that she didn't feel starstruck herself from time to time - especially in the early years of her career. When she was just starting out, she met her idol Nat King Cole after his Atlanta concert with Sarah Vaughan. The singer shared with Knight that he hoped his daughter, Natalie Cole, who was the same age as Knight, would also take up singing. Another idol of Knight's was Ella Fitzgerald. Knight still refers to the late jazz singer who passed away in 1996, as "Ms. Fitzgerald". Knight has been known to discuss how much respect she had for the singer's ability to remain humble despite her massive fame.
Chell's Corner: Gladys Knight, part 1
I loved this article, I found out a lot of interesting things about Gladys Knight that I hadn't known. I didn't know that Gladys, her sister(Brenda), brother (Bubba), and cousins (Eleanor, William & and another cousin they called (Pip) were a group in 1952 called The Little Knight Group and later that year, Glayds won a talent show with a $2000 prize. Gladys got to meet one of her idols, Nat King Cole. Other Idols of Gladys' were Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaught, both Jazz singers
