Gladys Knight and The O’Jays

The great ones endure, and Gladys Knight has endured. Very few singers can claim the career she has had. Known as the “Empress of Soul, she is ranked number eighteen on VH1 network’s list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock, this eight-time Grammy winner has enjoyed #1 hits, has triumphed in film, been cast on Dancing with the Stars, has a successful jewelry line, and continues to wow audiences across the country and around the world.

Knight – who is famously known for her Grammy-winning hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” All told, she has recorded more than 38 albums over the years, including four solo albums in the past decade.

Georgia-born, Knight began performing gospel music at age four in the Mount Mariah Baptist Church. Three years later, she won the grand prize on television’s “Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour,” and the following year, she, along with her brother Bubba, formed the Pips.

The group debuted their first album in 1960, when Knight was just sixteen. With Knight singing lead and The Pips providing lush harmonies and graceful choreography, the group went on to achieve icon status, having recorded some of the most memorable songs of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Top 20 hits, like “Every Beat of My Heart,” “Letter Full of Tears,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and “If I Were Your Woman,” set the stage for an amazing run in the mid-1970s, with Top 10 gold-certified singles like “Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye),” “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” “Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me” and the #1 smash “Midnight Train to Georgia” established Gladys Knight and The Pips as the premiere pop/R&B vocal ensemble in the world. The party kept rolling with hits like “On and On” from the Academy Award nominated soundtrack of Curtis Mayfield’s “Claudine,” the 1974 comedy about love in the inner city. Knight enjoyed another #1 hit in 1985 when she teamed with Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Dionne Warwick on “That’s What Friends are For.”

Her involvement in other creative undertakings, business ventures and humanitarian activities has been extensive, and has brought her honors from industry and community alike. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with the pips, an induction into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

The O’Jays were one of Philadelphia soul’s most popular and long-lived outfits, rivaled only by the Spinners as soul’s greatest vocal group of the ’70s. In their prime, the O’Jays’ recordings epitomized the Philly soul sound: smooth, rich harmonies backed by elaborate arrangements, lush strings, and a touch of contemporary funk. Although the O’Jays couldn’t sustain their widespread popularity in the post-disco age, they have continued to record steadily all the way up to the present day, modifying their production to keep up with the times.

With numerous top 10 hits and top 20 albums the group was inducted in the rock and roll hall of Fame in 2005.

All ages welcome.