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 eight-time Grammy winner has enjoyed #1 hits in pop, R&B and Adult Contemporary, and has triumphed in film, television and live performance.
No stranger to performing and light choreography over the course of her career, Knight raised the stakes when she put on her dancing shoes and joined the cast of ABC’s hit reality competition “Dancing with the Stars” in March 2012, partnering with Tristan MacManus. Knight exited the show with a respectable middle-of-the-pack finish.
Following her successful run on “Dancing With the Stars,” Knight found herself yet again on the acting stage with the currently syndicated comedy sitcom, The First Family, where she plays the mother of the President. Also this Fall 2013, Knight yet again lended her musical expertise to CENTRIC’s original series APOLLO LIVE, which made its debut November 2012 Joining judges Doug E. Fresh and Michael Bivins, the legendary songstress provided guidance to contestants as they took the stage with the hope to jumpstart their career in the entertainment industry.
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.
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.
Today, Knight and husband William, along with various other members of the family, oversee her busy career from the Las Vegas headquarters of Shakeji, Inc., her personal entertainment corporation. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, performer, restaurateur, and businesswoman with a spiritual outlook on her life. Her faith in God has been the driving force behind all of Knight’s endeavors, guiding her through her many successes.