Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight is a seven-time Grammy award-winning singer who got her first break in 1952 by winning the children's competition on "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour" with her group The Pips, which eventually consisted of her brother and two cousins. As lead singer of Gladys Knight and the Pips, Ms. Knight graced the stage with the top-20 hits, "I Heard It through the Grapevine," "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Good-Bye)," and the number-one Billboard single, "Midnight Train to Georgia." Gladys Knight and the Pips toured extensively, and hosted their own TV variety show before Knight launched a solo career. Her charitable efforts include raising funds for diabetes research. Her autobiography, "Between Each Line of Pain and Glory," was published in 2005. Knight is also director of the 100-member choir, Saints Unified Voices, which won a Grammy for the album "One Voice" (2005).