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Gladys
Knight
was born in Georgia in 1944 and began performing gospel
music at age four in her church and as a special guest soloist with the
Morris Brown College Choir. At age seven, she won Ted Mack's Amateur
Hour and its $2,000 grand prize. At age eight – following
encouragement by parents – she, brother Bubba, sister Brenda, and
cousins William and Elenor Guest formed a "little group" called
The Pips – "Pips" coming from their manager, cousin James
"Pip" Woods.
In
1959, Brenda and Elenor left the group, replaced by cousin Edward Patten
and friend, Langston George and the group became Gladys Knight & The Pips. Following
Langston's departure in 1962, Gladys
Knight & The Pips remained a quartet until 1989
when they decided to pursue different career paths.
In
the community, Gladys lends her hand to philanthropic efforts including
the American Cancer Society, Minority AIDS Project, programs for Battered
Women and Abused Children, AMFAR, Homelessness, Hunger Prevention, and
Crisis Intervention.
She
has also been honored by numerous organizations for her dedication and
selflessness to help those less fortunate. Some of these include the NAACP
Legal Defense Fund – Black Women of Achievement; Congress of Racial
Equality – Creative Achievement; Shaw University – Honorary Doctorate
Degree; and B'Nai B'Rith – Humanitarian Award.
In 1997, Gladys published the book Between Each Line of
Pain & Glory: My Life Story.
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