Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.\n', '

Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "That\'s What Friends Are For," eleven number-one R&B singles, and six number-one R&B albums. She has won seven Grammy Awards and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Pips. She also recorded the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence To Kill. Knight is also listed on Rolling Stone magazine\'s 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. \n', '

Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Merald Woodlow Knight Sr., a postal worker and Sarah Elizabeth (née Woods). She has a sister, Brenda, and one living brother, Merald Jr. and one deceased brother, David. She first achieved minor fame by winning Ted Mack\'s The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of seven in 1952. That same year, she, her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Elenor Guest formed a musical group called the Pips (named after another cousin, James "Pip" Woods). By the end of the decade, the act had begun to tour, and had replaced Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest with Gladys Knight\'s cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George.[citation needed]\n', '

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