Knight was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 on May 28, 1944, into a family that was part of Atlanta’s growing Black middle class. She began her musical career at the age of four with a church recital, then toured and sang in southern churches with the Morris Brown College choir, an Atlanta gospel group, from 1950 to 1953. As a seven-year-old prodigy, she achieved national recognition by winning top honors on Ted Mack’s The Original Amateur Hour, a popular television talent show in which winners were selected by mail-in votes.

Gladys KnightImage from John Mathew Smith

In her 1997 autobiography, Between Each Line of Pain and Glory, Knight describes candidly the ups and downs in her professional and private life, which include several marriages and an addiction to gambling. Despite her struggles, she concludes, “Bring on the pain. Bring on the glory. I will be in this fight to share my gifts, to enjoy my blessings, and to be loved.”

A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she directed the Saints Unified Voices Choir, which received a Grammy Award in 2006 for the album One Voice.