The great ones
endure, and Gladys Knight has long been one of the greatest. Very few singers over the last
fifty years have matched her unassailable artistry. This seven-time Grammy
winner has enjoyed #1 hits in Pop, Gospel, R&B and Adult Contemporary, and
has triumphed in film, television and live performance.
Knight is a two-time
Grammy winner in the gospel category, and “Where My Heart Belongs” dropped on
September 9
th, 2014 from Deseret Book, and won an NAACP Image Award
for “Outstanding Gospel Album.”
Knight starred in the
Lifetime original movie “Seasons of Love”. In the story about two lovers as
they journey through life, love and family, Knight stars alongside
Oscar-nominee Taraji P. Henson and fellow Grammy winner Cliff “Method Man”
Smith. In 2015, she will guest on Lee Daniels and FOX TV’s new series “Empire”
opposite Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.
Knight, known as the “Empress
of Soul,” a longtime Las Vegas resident, returned to the Strip in the
late-2000s to the famed Tropicana Hotel for a special engagement that ran in
the newly named Gladys Knight Theater, making her the first African-American
performer to have a venue named after her in Las Vegas.
All told, Knight has
recorded more than 38 albums over the years, including four solo albums during
the past decade: “Good Woman” (1991); “Just for You” (1994); the inspirational
“Many Different Roads” (1999); and “At Last” (2001).”
In 1995, Knight
earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the next year, Gladys Knight
& The Pips were inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame. Knight
published an autobiography, “Between Each Line of Pain and Glory” (a line taken
from her million selling recording “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”), in
1997, and the next year, she and The Pips were presented with the Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004, Knight
received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the annual BET Awards ceremony.