[4] Sources differ as to her place of birth – either Attapulgus, Georgia,[1] or Sanford, Florida[5] – but she grew up in Newark, New Jersey.

Shortly afterwards, Sister Rosetta Tharpe saw her singing at the Golden Gate Auditorium in Harlem, on a bill with Mahalia Jackson, and invited Knight to join her on tour.

[7] She left Tharpe to go solo around 1951, and put together a backing group, The Millionaires (Thomasina Stewart, Eleonore King and Roberta Jones), with whom she recorded the 1956 album Songs of the Gospel.

[2] She began recording secular R&B music in the late 1950s, for various labels including Decca, Mercury, and Okeh.

[11] She toured with Brook Benton, the Drifters, and Clyde McPhatter, and regularly reunited onstage with Tharpe.

In 1975, having given up performing secular music, she recorded another gospel album, Marie Knight: Today.

In 2002, Knight made a comeback in the gospel world, recording for a tribute album to Tharpe.