Singer, actress. Born May 28, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia. Knight made her solo singing debut at the age of four in the Mount Mariah Baptist Church in Atlanta. In 1952, shortly after winning a prize for her performance on the televised Ted Mack Amateur Hour, eight-year-old Knight formed the Pips with her brother and sister, Merald ('Bubba') and Brenda, and two cousins, Elenor and William Guest (another cousin, Edward Patten, and Langston George later joined the group, after Brenda and Elenor left to get married; George left by 1960). With young Gladys supplying the throaty vocals and the Pips providing impressive harmonies and inspired dance routines, the group soon earned a following on the so-called 'Chitlin Circuit' in the South, opening for popular acts such as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.

While their first single, "Whistle My Love", was released by Brunswick in 1957, the Pips didn't score a bona fide hit until they began recording with Motown Records in the 1960s, where they were teamed with songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield. In 1967, the Pips' version of Whitfield's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - later a huge hit for Marvin Gaye - crossed over from the rhythm & blues charts to the pop charts. Their popularity increased with the success of singles like "Nitty Gritty", "Friendship Train", and "If I Were Your Woman", combined with touring performances with the Motown Revue and numerous TV appearances. Knight and the Pips left Motown in 1973 for Buddah Records, a subsidiary of Arista (the group later took Motown to court for unpaid royalties). Ironically, their last Motown single, "Neither One of Us Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye", became the Pips' first No. 1 crossover hit and a Grammy winner for Best Pop Vocal Performance in 1973.