![]() ![]() Despite this, the group was now opening for top R&B acts such as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. At Brunswick, the group released two recordings that failed to chart. Their success brought them a record contract with Brunswick Records in 1957. By 1955, the group entered the talent show circuit in their hometown of Atlanta, winning each talent show they entered. The group settled on the name The Pips, inspired by the nickname of their cousin James "Pip" Woods. Soon, the quintet agreed to form a group at the urging of Gladys' mother Elizabeth Knight. That same year, Gladys, her brother Bubba, sister Brenda, and their cousins Eleanor and William Guest began performing together during Bubba's tenth birthday party after a record player malfunctioned. ![]() She won Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest on Jat the age of eight. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, she sang in the church choir. She has a sister, Brenda, one living brother, Merald "Bubba" Knight, Jr., and one deceased brother, David "Billy" Knight. Knight was born in Atlanta to Merald Woodlow Knight Sr., a postal worker, and Sarah Elizabeth (née Woods). She is also a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Knight among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She also recorded the theme song for the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill. 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. She has won seven Grammy Awards (four as a solo artist and three with the Pips) and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame along with The Pips. Knight has recorded two number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles (" Midnight Train to Georgia" and " That's What Friends Are For" which she did with Dionne Warwick, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder), eleven number-one R&B singles and six number-one R&B albums. ![]() A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten. Which isn’t surprising once one hears the way she gracefully intertwines Soul, R&B, Funk, and even a little Hip-Hop – the best portrayal of this intertwinement can be heard in “You Can Win”, which is on her “Perspective” EP.Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. Lyric has just come off of her first North East Tour with Lizz Wright, and she draws inspiration from India Arie, Tracy Chapman, and Lauryn Hill. Jones, Little Big Town, Dionne Warwick, Cedric Burnside, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Fred Wesley & the Lee Boys, Count M’Butu and Warren Haynes. Since taking to the streets, Lyric has shared the stage with legends such as George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight, Booker T. In 2009, she met Lizz Wright while busking, at the time, she had no idea that the two of them would share the same stage in 2011. During this time she got a mix of reactions – some folks didn’t believe that those who were serious about their craft would take to the street corners, while others stood and awe and found themselves moved to tears by her lyrics. Lyric began busking with only two songs, an original titled “Stride”, and “Halo” by Beyonce. Which soon led to her to take the advice of her father, and start busking on the streets of Asheville. After going through the motions of college, she soon realized that it wasn’t the path she should be on, so she took to Youtube and taught herself how to play guitar. Upon graduation of high school in 2006, Lyric enrolled at Western Carolina University where she played piano and sang in the choir. King, and father, whom plays bass in her band has been playing in bands since his teenage years. It is safe to say that music is in her blood her grandfather played harmonica and guitar with the late blues legend B.B. She was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. She is a Western North Carolina favorite and holds several Mountain Xpress “best of” awards including, but not limited to: best funk band,best vocalist, best lyricist, best r&b/soul, best singer-songwriter, all around favorite band and band that gives back to the community. Her latest EP titled “Perspective” was released in December of 2015. Leeda “Lyric” Jones, best known as Lyric is a singer-songwriter, musician, and music teacher. ![]()
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