Knight and The Pips however, had over a decade’s experience by this point and it showed.Īccording to her memoirs, she and The Pips were kicked off a tour opening for Diana Ross and The Supremes because they were upstaging Ross night after night and getting a better reception from the crowd. Even The Beatles, famed for cutting their teeth in their residencies in Hamburg and the Cavern, had only spent three years regularly performing live. By the end of the decade they were touring together and they were signed to Motown by 1966.Īt this point in time it was rare for a band to be so incredibly experienced live. She won a TV Talent show contest, namely Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour in 1952, the following year she formed a musical group with her brother, sister and cousins who christened themselves The Pips. Her first taste of fame came when she was a mere seven years of age.

It’s the kind of name that’s earned, not bestowed, and when the woman it describes is Gladys Knight, there’s no-one who it fits better. You can keep your “King of Rock’n’Roll”, “Lord of the Dance”, and “Pop Princess”, is there a nickname in music that sounds as deliciously regal as “Empress of Soul”? I really don’t think there is.

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