Gladys sang background in a group with her, brother Merald “Bubba” Knight, sister Brenda Knight, and cousins William and Eleanor Guest who started a singing group which they later named “The Pips.” The name came from another cousin, James “Pip” Wood, who became their manager. The two women were replaced by cousins Edwards Patten and Langston George in 1959.

By BOB FERGUSON

Contributing Writer

Gladys Knight made her singing debut at the tender age of four, when she joined the Mount Moriah Baptist Church children’s choir sing in a special program.

Even as a child her raspy voice could be heard distinctly above all the other children and most parishioners knew that someday this little girl would be great. It is said that she was so small that she had to stand on a soapbox in order for her audience to see her; needless to say she could certainly be heard by everyone.

In 1952, at age seven Gladys appeared on the “Ted Mack Amateur Hour” and won the grand prize of $ 2,000.00, singing Nat “King” Cole’s “Too Young.”

The Ted Mack Show was a back in the day “American Idol.”

Many have said that TV host Ted Mack was her beginning, which I disagree with. I think this maybe giving him a little too much credit, because from the beginning it was apparent that she had been anointed with a song from God.

From 1953 she toured throughout Georgia and Alabama with the Morris Brown Gospel Choir. Although she is more famed for her R & B singing, it has always been unequivocally clear to most of us that she is truly an angel anointed with singing the gospel. The depth of her spiritual feelings can truly be heard through her tones and the bellowing sounds of praises that can always be detected in her singing.

Gladys also recognizes this, and said, “I feel God gave me a gift that he meant for me to use. It isn’t something I rehearsed until it got better and better, I think I was actually blessed.”

Gladys sang background in a group with her, brother Merald “Bubba” Knight, sister Brenda Knight, and cousins William and Eleanor Guest who started a singing group which they later named “The Pips.” The name came from another cousin, James “Pip” Wood, who became their manager. The two women were replaced by cousins Edwards Patten and Langston George in 1959.

George left in 1962; Gladys Knight and the Pips stayed a quartet for the rest of its existence. In 1973, their song, “Midnight Train to Georgia” was the number-one hit single and her second release after departing from Motown Records.

In 1996, the she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the Pips.   Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia on May 28, 1944 to Elizabeth and Merald Knight Sr.

Gladys Knight is truly one of Black music’s finest prodigies and an examples of what can be achieved when we try.

CUTLINE: Gladys Knight and the Pips.