Gladys Knight

Often known by the well-deserved nickname "The Empress of Soul," Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1944. She and her brother, sister, and cousins were still just children when they first formed the band the Pips and began performing at local talent shows, but their endeavors would prove to be more than a mere passing interest.

After a few lineup changes, the group signed with Brunswick Records in 1957 and began releasing singles, scoring their first hit in 1961 with "Every Beat of My Heart." They would eventually sign with Motown and later Buddha Records, where they found even greater success on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts throughout the late '60s and '70s with songs like "If I Were Your Woman," "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," and "Midnight Train to Georgia."

At the same time, Knight nurtured an interest in acting, appearing alongside her real-life then-husband Barry Hankerson in the film "Pipe Dreams" (1976). Knight also cultivated a solo career, releasing her first album without the Pips, Miss Gladys Knight, in 1978. Knight would return to acting in 1985 with a starring role on the series "Charlie & Co." (CBS, 1985-86), but when the series did not receive a second season, she returned to music, recording the Pips' final album, All Our Love in 1987.

Knight would continue to release solo material in the coming years, recording the title track for the soundtrack to the James Bond movie "License to Kill" in 1989. She would also continue to act, memorably appearing in the ensemble film "Twenty Bucks" (1993) and taking on the recurring role of Janice on "The Jamie Foxx Show" (WB, 1996-2001). In 2019, Knight came in third on the series "The Masked Singer" (Fox, 2019-), where she was revealed to be the Bee.