![]() There, she competed against celebrities including Melissa Gilbert, Jaleel White, and Sherri Shepherd. In 2012, Knight made the decision to play a different kind of role by joining the cast of the hit television show Dancing with the Stars. Before Me, a Knight album released in 2006, was well acclaimed as well. ![]() For her successful gospel album One Voice from 2005, Knight worked with the Saints United Voices. I will thus make the most of any occasion I have to spread the gospel or encourage others. “Since I’ve been so wonderfully blessed, I really want to share and to make life at least a little better,” she once said. Knight, affectionately referred to as the “Empress of Soul,” has continued to release records despite no longer being a chart-topper. She appeared in Tyler Perry’s 2009 film I Can Do Bad All By Myself on the big screen. Knight has additionally starred in JAG and Living Single. She had a recurring part in the 1994 TV show New York Undercover in addition to her musical career. She also produced the popular 1994 album Just For You. ![]() Later ProjectsĪs she continued to tour and record throughout the 1990s, Knight garnered praise for her consistently powerful vocals and energetic stage presence. He recorded the title song for the James Bond movie Licence to Kill (1989) and the album A Good Woman (1990), which included Dionne Warwick and Patti Labelle as special guests. Knight and the Pips moved to MCA Records in 1988 and put out their final album, All Our Love, which featured the Grammy-winning single “Love Overboard.” The next year, Knight broke away from the Pips in order to pursue a solo career. These albums featured singles like “Landlord,” “Save the Overtime for Me,” and “You’re Number One,” which were produced by the legendary songwriting duo Ashford and Simpson. Knight and the Pips continued to perform together live but were compelled to record separately in the final years of the 1970s due to legal issues with Buddah.įollowing the signing of a new contract with Columbia, the band issued three reunion albums in the early 1980s: About Love (1980), Touch (1982), and Visions (1983). In 1976, Knight made a cameo appearance in the movie Pipe Dreams, for which she and the Pips also produced the soundtrack. In the summer of 1975, Knight and the Pips hosted their own TV special. 1 soul smash rendition of Marvin Hamlisch’s “The Way We Were,” which was subsequently made popular by Barbra Streisand. The ensemble recorded the soundtrack for the movie Claudine in 1974, using Curtis Mayfield’s compositions as the basis for the hit song “On and On.” Their subsequent album, I Feel a Song (1975), featured Knight’s No. 1 hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Best R&B Vocal Performance), the group-now officially known as Gladys Knight and the Pips-was riding higher than ever during the mid-1970s. With a smoother, more approachable sound, a hit album, Imagination (1973), and three gold singles-”I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me,” and the Grammy Award-winning No. 1 in the charts and won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance in 1973. Ironically, “Neither One of Us Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye,” the Pips’ final Motown record, went to No. In 1973, Knight and the Pips departed Motown for Buddah Records, an Arista subsidiary (the group later sued Motown for unpaid royalties). With the success of tracks like “Nitty Gritty,” “Friendship Train,” and “If I Were Your Woman,” as well as traveling with the Motown Revue and countless TV appearances, their fame grew. The Pips’ cover of Whitfield’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” transitioned from the rhythm and blues charts to the pop charts in 1967, becoming a major hit for Marvin Gaye. Although Brunswick released their first single, “Whistle My Love,” in 1957, the Pips didn’t have a real hit until 1961 with the release of “Every Beat of My Heart.” However, the group’s careers really took off when they teamed up with songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield and started recording for Motown Records in the middle of the 1960s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |