And adding African influence to ‘Come, Come, Ye Saints’ was my way of honoring the wonderful pioneers of Africa.” “I fell in love with ‘I’m a Child of God’ when I sang it at my granddaughter’s baptism long before I joined the Church. “I choose all of the choir’s songs for their basic messages,” she says. Traditional favorites such as “Come, Come, Ye Saints” and “Because I Have Been Given Much” were transformed into the kind of toe-tapping, soul-stirring numbers Gladys had been longing for. They happily agreed, even though they were not members of the Church.Īfter each of Gladys’s shows at the Flamingo, she worked with her trusted musicians to create gospel-type arrangements of hymns for the choir to perform. To help Gladys raise the performance level of the choir, she turned to some of her show’s professional crewmembers at the Flamingo Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, where she was performing on a regular basis. “Most of these wonderful people had never sung gospel music before,” she says. “I held auditions, I prayed about it, and the answer I got was, ‘Take them all,’” she recalls.īut teaching a volunteer choir to perform wasn’t as easy as Gladys hoped it would be. She agreed, and the Saints Unified Voices was born. Soon Gladys was asked to organize a choir for a stake missionary fireside. She wanted to include music in her presentation, so she organized a small ensemble of young women to sing with her. The idea to create a choir first came to Gladys when she was invited to speak at the 2002 Women’s Conference at BYU. ► You'll also like: See Gladys Knight's One-of-a-Kind CTR Ring (+ 6 Other Things You Never Knew About Her) “Never in a million years did I ever dream that I would be the director of a choir like this-one that showcases the energy, the fire, and the heart of the music of our culture,” she says. Second, they desire to help members of the Church embrace the cultural diversity of people worldwide coming into the Lord’s kingdom. First, they aim to spread the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ by providing an opportunity for people who wouldn’t otherwise enter a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse to feel the Spirit. The choir, called the Saints Unified Voices, is comprised of more than 100 people and has a two-fold purpose. Gladys’s desire to add “a little something” to Church music eventually inspired her to create an all-volunteer, multicultural Latter-day Saint choir that would bring a new level of energy and cultural awareness to traditional hymns. My mom, who I consider to be the most spiritual woman I’ve ever met, wasn’t a member, but she said, ‘You go.’ Those were basically her last words.” “I loved the fact that when they came in they did not try to sell me on the Church-they just told me about the gospel. “When the missionaries came to my house, we had the most beautiful prayer,” Gladys recalls. “After a while, Kenya told me, ‘Mom, it’s time for you to talk to the missionaries.’” And so she did. I watched their lives grow, and to see how my grandchildren were being raised and what they knew really impressed me.”Īt her daughter’s invitation, Gladys began attending Relief Society. Then my daughter, Kenya, joined the Church. “My son Jimmy and his wife were the first to join the Church, after his best friend shared his testimony. We had been searching for the best of the Lord, the most of the Lord,” she recalls. Gladys’s faith in God has been a driving force throughout her life, and her thirst for light and knowledge, along with the example of her children, helped prepare her to accept the gospel. God chose me for this, and I needed to stop fighting it.” But I realized that my voice is my gift from God, and I have an obligation to use it. “I wanted to be like the rest of the teens,” she recalls. Everyone began to expect me to be different.”īut there were times when the expectations became too much, and she didn’t want to perform anymore. Though Gladys achieved fame at a young age, she didn’t fall victim to the vices that often come with it. ► You'll also like: Watch: Gladys Knight Sings Flawless National Anthem at Super Bowl The act signed with Buddah Records in 1973 and achieved a new level of success with the R&B chart topper and Grammy-winning “Midnight Train to Georgia,” as well as “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” and “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” They soon exceeded expectations, however, with the release of several hit singles, including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Friendship Train,” and “I Don’t Want to Do Wrong.” In 1966, Gladys Knight & the Pips signed with Motown Records, where despite Gladys’s powerful voice and the Pips’ smooth vocals and impressive dance moves, they were still considered a second-class act. Brenda and Eleanor were eventually replaced with cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George, and the group went on their first national tour when Gladys was 11 years old.
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