Two of her songs ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia") were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value.

[12] At the age of eight, she won Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest singing Nat King Cole's "Too Young.

[14] The Pips performed at church, talent shows, and clubs opening for popular acts, then signed with Brunswick Records in 1957 and began releasing singles.

[12] By then, she had recorded five songs and released her first hit single, “Every Beat of My Heart.” The group's success was later halted by Knight's departure to start a family with husband and musician Jimmy Newman, resuming soon after when she returned.

Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966 (with only three hits to their credit - "Every Beat of My Heart", "Giving Up" and "Letter Full of Tears"),[16] and, although initially regarded as a second-string act by the label, scored several major hit singles, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (#1 in 1967) (released later by Marvin Gaye), "The Nitty Gritty" (1969), "Friendship Train" (1969), "If I Were Your Woman" (1970), "I Don't Want To Do Wrong" (1971), the Grammy Award–winning "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" (1972), and "Daddy Could Swear (I Declare)" (1973).

In their early Motown career, Gladys Knight and the Pips toured as the opening act for Diana Ross and the Supremes.

[17] The act left Motown for a better deal with Buddah Records in 1973, and achieved even greater mainstream success that year with hits such as the Grammy-winning "Midnight Train to Georgia" (#1 on the pop and R&B chart), "I've Got to Use My Imagination", "The Way We Were/Try To Remember" and "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me".

After divorcing James Newman II in 1973, Knight married Barry Hankerson, then Detroit mayor Coleman Young's executive aide.

Signing with Columbia Records in 1980 and restored to its familiar quartet form, Gladys Knight & the Pips began releasing new material.

The act enlisted former Motown producers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for their first two albums: About Love (1980), which included the hit "Landlord" and Touch (1981).

The song, under the artistic direction of Leon Sylvers III (known for collaborating on Shalamar hits), was done in a soulful boogie style.

While still with the Pips, Gladys Knight joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1985 AIDS benefit single, "That's What Friends Are For", a triple No.

In 1989, she recorded "Licence to Kill", the title track for James Bond film of the same name, a Top-10 hit in the UK and Germany.

[21] SUV has released a Grammy Award-winning CD titled One Voice, and occasionally performs at LDS church firesides.

In April 2004, Knight co-headlined the VH1's benefit concert Divas Live 2004 alongside Ashanti, Cyndi Lauper, Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone, Debbie Harry, and Patti LaBelle, in support of the Save the Music Foundation.

In the spring of 2008, Knight appeared alongside Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross at the 'Divas with Heart' concert in aid of cardiac research, at New York's Radio City Hall.

Also in 2008 Gladys, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller performed on American Idol to raise money for charity.

[23] In 2013, Knight recorded the Lenny Kravitz-written and -produced song "You And I Ain't Nothin' No More" for the soundtrack from Lee Daniels' motion picture The Butler.

[27] She faced criticism for agreeing to perform due to the alleged blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick by the National Football League after he began protesting police brutality during pre-game anthem ceremonies.

[29] Knight defended her decision to sing, claiming to understand Kaepernick's reasons for protesting but criticizing him for kneeling during the national anthem.

[35] In October 2009, Knight started her farewell tour of the United Kingdom,[36] which featured Tito Jackson as her supporting act and special appearances by Dionne Warwick.

The tour was promoted by an appearance on the TV program Later... with Jools Holland where Knight performed "If I Were Your Woman" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night".

In spite of her "farewell", Knight started touring the UK again a few years later, playing gigs in Scotland and England in 2015,[37] 2016,[38] 2017,[39] 2019, 2022[40] and 2024.

[42] In 1976, Knight made her acting debut as the lead in the film Pipe Dreams for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.

She also guest-starred on several TV series throughout the 1980s and 1990s, appearing on Benson, The Jeffersons, A Different World, Living Single, The Jamie Foxx Show, and New York Undercover.

In April 2009, she made a special guest appearance, and performed a song, on Tyler Perry's House of Payne.

They were eliminated on April 24 after losing a "dance duel" to Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan and partner Chelsie Hightower, ironically on the show's "Motown Week".

Knight's son Shanga Hankerson owns a chain of chicken and waffles restaurants based in Atlanta, bearing her name.

Knight retired from the road to raise their children while the Pips toured on their own, later returning with Newman as the group's musical director.

[60] Knight was raised a Baptist, later was a Catholic, and was baptized in 1997 into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, inspired by her daughter and son who had left Catholicism to join.