Gladys Knight & The Pips

As much as the meaning of the word ‘legend’ has been hugely diluted over the past few years, there are still instances when it seems wrong to use any other term. This is one of those moments; Gladys Knight is a genuine Motown icon, winning four Grammy awards over the course of a career that saw her come to define the sound of a generation in which her record label revolutionised popular music. With her backing band The Pips, she had more than twenty top twenty singles on either side of the Atlantic over the course of a near forty year career. Back in 2009, she embarked upon a tour of the UK that she vowed would be her last; in an emotionally charged decision, she took Tito Jackson along with her as her supporting act, just months after the passing of his brother Michael. Rather than stick to her recent penchant for stripped-back affairs - just her and a microphone - she put on an impressively lavish stage show in arenas around the country, and was joined on some dates by a fellow titan of soul in Dionne Warwick. She’s now thrown herself into managing her restaurant business, but may yet be tempted back to the stage; fans should watch this space, especially seeing as that last jaunt suggested she’s lost none of what made her a star in the first place.