44 Facts About Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight has won seven Grammy Awards and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame along with The Pips.

Gladys Knight recorded the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill.

Gladys Knight is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors.

Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta to Merald Woodlow Gladys Knight Sr.

Gladys Knight has an older sister, Brenda, one living brother, Merald "Bubba" Jr.

Gladys Knight won Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of eight in 1952.

That same year, Gladys Knight left the group to start a family with musician and husband Jimmy Newman.

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.

The film failed at the box-office, but Gladys Knight did receive a Golden Globe Best New Actress nomination.

Hankerson and Gladys Knight became embroiled in a heated custody battle over Shanga Ali.

In 1987, Gladys Knight decided to pursue a solo career, and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together, All Our Love, for MCA Records.

Gladys 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, Gladys Knight performed a rendition of "America the Beautiful" at Wrestlemania 4 in Atlantic City, NJ.

Also in 1991, Gladys Knight performed the national anthem at Game 1 of the World Series.

Gladys Knight created and now directs the Mormon-themed choir Saints Unified Voices.

In 2009 Gladys Knight sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and "The Lord's Prayer" at the funeral service for Michael Jackson.

In March 2010, Randy Jackson mentioned on a new episode of the same show that he is back in the studio with Gladys Knight working on a new album.

Gladys Knight commented that the growing trend saddened her heart and that she had been taught to dress respectfully for her audiences.

In 2019, Gladys Knight accepted an invitation to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIII.

Gladys Knight 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.

Gladys Knight defended her decision to sing, claiming to understand Kaepernick's reasons for protesting but criticizing him for kneeling during the national anthem.

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

In 2022, Gladys Knight received Kennedy Center Honors, presented by US President Joe Biden.

Gladys Knight headlined a US-Africa Leaders Summit Dinner at the White House.

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

In spite of her "farewell", Gladys Knight started touring the UK again a few years later, playing gigs in Scotland and England in 2015,2016,2017,2019 and 2022.

In 2009, Gladys 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.

Gladys Knight 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.

Gladys Knight has made a number of cameo appearances, including on Las Vegas and 30 Rock.

In 2012, Gladys Knight competed on season 14 of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Tristan MacManus.

Gladys Knight finished behind Donny Osmond as "Peacock" and T-Pain as "Monster".

Gladys Knight has been married four times and has three children.

Gladys Knight had a miscarriage; the couple went on to have two children.

Gladys Knight retired from the road to raise their child while the Pips toured on their own.

In November 1963, Gladys Knight had her only daughter, Kenya Maria Newman.

Gladys Knight spent over a million dollars looking for her son after he was kidnapped.

In 1995, Gladys Knight married motivational speaker Les Brown, but they separated and divorced in 1997.

Gladys Knight suffered through a gambling addiction that lasted more than a decade.

Gladys Knight had occasionally teased LDS president Gordon B Hinckley, saying his flock needed to inject some "pep" into their music.

Gladys Knight agreed, which resulted in the Grammy Award-winning Saints Unified Voices gospel music choir being formed.

In 2017, Gladys Knight helped raise $400,000 for the Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County.

One year before, Gladys Knight had received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2007, Gladys Knight received the Society of Singers ELLA Award at which time she was declared the "Empress of Soul".

Gladys Knight is listed on Rolling Stones list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.