Gladys Knight

Gladys Maria Knight — the Empress of Soul — has been performing since she was four years old, when she won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour television competition. Over seven decades later, she remains one of the most respected and beloved voices in American music, with hits that have soundtracked generations: "Midnight Train to Georgia," "Neither One of Us," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," and "If I Were Your Woman."

Born in Atlanta in 1944, Knight formed the Pips with her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Edward Guest when she was eight. The group's tight harmonies and dynamic stage presence made them one of the defining acts of the 1960s and 70s. At Motown, they recorded "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" before Marvin Gaye's version, and their reading remains a masterpiece of restrained emotion.

Knight has won seven Grammy Awards, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and received a Kennedy Center Honor. Her Super Bowl LIII national anthem performance in 2019 reminded the world that her voice, at 74, had lost none of its warmth and power. She is the rare artist who has remained relevant, respected, and active across an entire lifetime in the music industry.