Gladys Knight and the Pips

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  • Year:
    1996
  • Inducted by:
    Mariah Carey
  • Category:
    Performers

Introduction

They set the standard for longevity and honest-to-God R&B.

Gladys Knight has been with the Pips for over forty years, but from the start she sang with the wisdom of a woman who has seen it all. From doo-wop to Motown to Seventies soul ballads, the quality of their work is unimpeachable.

Hall of Fame Essay

1996

Dave Marsh

Although they are best known for their great recordings at Motown in the late 1960s and the ballad hits they scored in the early ‘70s, Gladys Knight and the Pips, in fact, have had a career that encompasses the majority of rock history. Indeed, Knight is one of the few Hall of Famers who have continued to make hits from the ‘60s until the present day.

The key to this success is Gladys Knight’s voice, one of the more remarkable instruments of the rock, soul and R&B eras. A perfect blend of grace and grit has allowed her to record such masterpieces of balladry as  "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the  First to Say Goodbye),”  “If I Were Your Wom­an,”  “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “Every  Beat of My Heart” while  also  making such funky dance numbers as the original “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,”  “The Nitty Gritty,” "Friendship Train,”  “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” and “Love Overboard.”

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program Cover 1996
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Gladys is a singer’s singer. She’s as real as it gets.
Mariah Carey

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Gallery

Photography: Kevin Mazur, WireImage