She continued to record albums but accused the music industry of racial prejudice. But the couple ended up in a long, bitter custody battle and experienced financial disaster from her husband's film projects.īy 1989, Knight was ready to step out into a solo singing career. Knight embarked on her second marriage, and her son Shanga was born on. In the 1970s, "Gladys Knight and The Pips" received plenty of radio air play with "If I Were Your Woman" and "Neither One of Us." With a career peak 1973-76, the group was recognized by the music industry with Grammy Awards in 1973 and again in 1988. The song made it to the top of the pop charts. He died in his sleep on of a drug overdose in Las Vegas, NV.Īfter a decade of club dates around the country, "Gladys Knight and The Pips" scored a hit with "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," 1967. Disaster struck with Jimmy Jr., her 36-year-old son, died following a two day alcohol-induced cocaine binge. When her husband became addicted to drugs, he soon abandoned his wife and young kids, ending the marriage in divorce. Knight gave birth to son Jimmy in 1962 and daughter Kenya in 1964. The marriage was in trouble financially but the couple continued to persevere through a difficult time. The couple married and soon after Knight experienced a devastating miscarriage. In 1960, at the age of 16, Knight found herself pregnant by Atlanta musician Jimmy Newman. When she was 13, her dad suffered a nervous breakdown and Knight hit the show business circuit with her backup singers to earn a living. That same year, she formed "The Pips" with her older brother Bubba and her cousins. In 1952, she appeared on the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" after winning a national talent contest at Madison Square Garden in New York. At the age of four, Gladys astounded others as a precocious child vocalist soloing at Mount Mariah Baptist Church in Atlanta. Knight was the daughter of Atlanta postal worker, Merald Knight and his wife Elizabeth. Originally, Knight went into show business because of family hardships to help support her family and she established herself as a rock and soul singer in the '60s and '70s with hits such as "Midnight Train to Georgia." On, they were given the 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in New York City. Photo: Original uploader was Dwightmccann at en.wikipedia, license cc-by-sa-2.5 BiographyĪmerican singer, leader of the long-lived rhythm and blues pop group "Gladys Knight and The Pips." In 1989, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
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