Gladys Knight Honored By The Kennedy Center For Her Long Career

The great ones endure, and Gladys Knight has long been one of a very few at her vocal level—truly an icon in the music industry.  Unmatched in her artistry, she is an seven-time Grammy Award®-winner with No. 1 hits in Pop, R&B, and Adult Contemporary, and she has also triumphed in film and television.

Georgia-born, Knight began performing gospel music at age four and sang as a guest soloist in the choir. Four years later, she won the grand prize on television’s Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour. The following year, she along with her brother Bubba, sister Brenda, and two cousins formed The Pips. In 1962, the classic group was renamed Gladys Knight & The Pips.

The group’s first album debuted in 1960 with Knight, at just 16, singing lead. With the Pips singing lush harmonies and providing graceful choreography, the group went on to achieve musical icon status. Hits like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “If I Were Your Woman” along with Top 10 singles like “Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye),” “Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me,” and the #1 smash hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” established the group as the premiere pop/R&B vocal ensemble in the world. Knight enjoyed another #1 hit in 1985 teaming with Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Dionne Warwick on “That’s What Friends are For.”

Gladys Knight has recorded more than 38 albums in her storied career. She has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and the BET Awards along with a Legend Award from the Soul Train Awards.

She is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother as well as a performer and businesswoman with a spiritual outlook on life keeping her young at heart and admired by millions.

Recent Kennedy Center history: Gladys Knight was among the guest cast paying tribute to Kennedy Center Honoree Garth Brooks (43rd Kennedy Center Honors in May 2021). Additionally, she was among the cast for the Let Freedom Ring Celebration on January 16, 2017 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. On September 12, 2000, Knight headlined A Knight of Inspiration, a benefit concert for the American Diabetes Association in the Terrace Theater.