Page "Gladys Knight" Paragraph 1

Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth ( née Woods ) and Merald Woodlow Knight, Sr., a postal worker.

She first achieved minor fame by winning Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of 7 in 1952.

The following 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.