Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest eventually left the group and were replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten, and a non-relative, Langston George in 1959.

[2] Gladys Knight performed on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour in 1952 at the age of eight, winning first prize.

[5] The group's success was halted by Gladys Knight's sudden departure in 1962 to start a family with husband Jimmy Newman, a musician.

Eventually Gladys reunited with the Pips and signed with a local New York label, Maxx Records, that year.

Other notable songs they released on Maxx on the Gladys Knight and the Pips album include "Lovers Always Forgive", "(There Will Never Be) Another Love", "Either Way I Lose", "Go Away, Stay Away", "Maybe Maybe Baby", ""Stop and Get a Hold of Myself", "Who Knows?

The group developed a reputation for exciting and polished live performances, that enabled them to work even without the benefit of bestselling records.

Knight initially refused to sign due to her fears that the label would overlook them for the more popular artists on his roster, but she was outvoted by the Pips.

On the A&E Network television program Biography, Knight stated that she and the Pips were regarded as a second-string act, and that "Diana (Ross) & the Supremes, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye were given all the hits, while we took the leftovers."

While at Motown in 1968, Knight was the first person to suggest that Berry Gordy sign the up-and-coming group called The Jackson Five (though Bobby Taylor of the Vancouvers also had a role), after appearing with them on a concert held in Gary, Indiana, to help elect Mayor Richard Hatcher, despite the claim that Diana Ross discovered them.

Following the signing with Buddah Records, the label issued another Weatherly ballad, "Where Peaceful Waters Flow", released around the same time "Neither One of Us" and a Motown single, "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare", was charting.

The group reached its popular and critical peak soon afterwards, starting with the release of another Weatherly song, "Midnight Train to Georgia", in August 1973.

[3] The release of Imagination sparked a consecutive series of million-selling albums for the label including the soundtrack to the movie, Claudine;[3] I Feel a Song and 2nd Anniversary.

[3] In 1975, the group scored a mid-season variety series, The Gladys Knight & the Pips Show, that aired for four episodes on NBC.

Also in 1981, the group provided prominent backing vocals for Kenny Rogers on his remake of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Share Your Love with Me".

1 Billboard Hot 100 and R&B hit collaboration on the song, "That's What Friends Are For", the group signed with MCA Records and released their final album All Our Love in 1987.

The album was certified gold and included the hits "Lovin' On Next to Nothin'" and their Grammy-winning number-one single, "Love Overboard".

William Guest continued to lead the company with members of Patten's family until his death from congestive heart failure in Detroit on December 24, 2015.

[10] Two years prior, Guest and his sister, Dame Dhyana Ziegler, PhD, released his autobiography, Midnight Train FROM Georgia: A Pip's Journey (Branden Books, Boston, MA, USA), about his life and career.

[5] Bubba Knight still continues to oversee his sister's career, by being her tour manager and occasionally joining Gladys onstage during performances.

Gladys Knight recorded the theme song for the James Bond film, Licence to Kill in 1989, which became a top ten single in the UK.

[3] Two years later, she released her 1991 album, Good Woman, which included the top five R&B hit, "Men", and Grammy-nominated duet version of "Superwoman", recorded with Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle.

A 1994 album, Just for You, featured the hits "I Don't Wanna Know" and her cover of Boyz II Men's "End of the Road", and went gold.

Gladys Knight & the Pips are ranked as the ninth most successful act in The Billboard Top 40 Book of R&B and Hip-Hop Hits (2005).

In June 2006, Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Apollo Theater's Hall of Fame in New York City.