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Gladys Knight & The Pips

30 Greatest

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Gladys Knight and the Pips are one of the very few vocal groups to achieve stardom straight across the musical spectrum. They are heralded as America's number one vocal group no matter where they perform throughout the world.

As proof of their versarility and universal success, they have been honoured with countless awards from radio, TV and magazines and many other publications and organisations. In the last two years, they have had three gold albums, one platinum album and five gold singles, and now this their very own collection of greatest hits will surely point the way to even greater success.

But the recognition did not come overnight for Gladys Knight, her brother Merald and their cousins Edward Patten and William Guest, now together as Gladys Knight and the Pips for 23 years.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Gladys Knight has been performing since she was four years old. At the age of seven, with her mother's encouragement, she appeared on a famous 'Amateur Hour' programme and won the grand prize. This lead to road tours and television appearances. The talented Gladys was encouraged by her parents who understood her love of music through their own talent and experience as singers in the famed 'Wings Over Jordan' Choir.

The emergence of the Pips came about at a family function when everyone present was asked to 'Get up and do something entertaining'. Gladys, Merald, their sister Brenda, William and his sister Eleanor performed as a group and their cousin James Woods (nicknamed 'Pip') was so impressed by their performance that he pressed them to form a group. They did, and they named it after him. Cousin Pip acted as the group's first manager and when Gladys was 12 years old they won an amateur contest in Atlanta which launched their career. Later, Brenda and Eleanor dropped out of the group and Edward joined them to form the present Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Gladys Knight and the Pips first recording, 'Every Beat Of My Heart', earned a gold record but their subsequent successes were sporadic. After a long spell on the strictly soul-music scene, the group chanced into an association as a guest act with a touring review and at the tour's end, they were offered a new recording contract. This brought the group to new heights as recording artists, with gold records for 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine', 'If I Were Your Woman' and 'Help Me Make It Through The Night'.

They have now deservedly reached the status of superstars, crossing all music barriers and flourishing in both pop and r&b, playing colleges as well as major hotels and theatres-in-the-round. The group has travelled throughout Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, playing to all kinds of audiences both young and old, with the only common denominator being a love for good music and an appreciation for honest, real talent.

Gladys Knight and the Pips are loaded with talent and they are ever growing and reaching into new fields. They have emerged as four individuals lovingly joined to each other through family, friendship, talent and the strength that comes through years of hard work and determination to be heard as interpreters of contemporary music with a unique combination of style, grace, talent and sincerity.