Real Name: Gladys Maria Knight
Birthday: 28 May, 1944
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Biggest Hit Singles: The Way We Were, number four, 1975, Baby Don’t Change Your Mind, number four, 1977
Career Highlights: Six-time Grammy Award winner, awarded Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in Los Angeles

Gladys Knight has had one of the most successful careers of any female singer in history. Never mind an impressive arsenal of hit singles, the diva also judges cult US talent contests like American Idol and American Juniors. And, if that wasn’t enough, she sang five nights a week at her own Hollywood show for three solid years and owns a chain of Atlanta-based chicken and waffle restaurants!

Gladys started her musical career aged eight, when she joined her brother’s group The Pips in 1952. By the end of the decade they had started touring, and had a hit with the doo-wap classic Every Beat Of My Heart.

The group developed into Motown’s most dependable act over the next 10 years, even though they never scaled the commercial heights of The Supremes or the Temptations.

Then, in the mid-70s, Gladys split to start a successful solo singing and acting career. She sang with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1986 AIDS benefit single That's What Friends Are For, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance.

In 1989 Gladys recorded the title track for the James Bond film Licence to Kill, a top 10 hit both in the UK and Germany that secured her status as a household name across Europe.