She’s back, ‘blessed’ to be busy in the biz

By Jerry Fink

Friday, April 11, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Seven-time Grammy winner Gladys Knight will perform in Las Vegas this week for the first time since her engagement at the Flamingo ended almost two years ago.

Knight was a fixture at the Flamingo for almost four years before pulling up roots and going back on tour.

Knight has been performing publicly since age 4. At 7 she was a winner on “Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour” and at 8 formed a group called the Pips, which evolved into Gladys Knight and the Pips. The group debuted its first album in 1960, when Knight was just 16.

She hasn’t let up.

While she was at the Flamingo, she won a Grammy for gospel performance for her duet with Ray Charles on “Heaven Help Us All,” off his posthumous album “Genius Loves Company.”

The next year, Knight won another Grammy, this one for gospel choir performance for “One Voice.” It was the debut album from the Saints Unified Voices, which Knight directs, and was released on her record label, Many Roads.

In October 2006, she released her first album on Verve, “Before Me,” which pays tribute to such legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Lena Horne.

She recently talked to the Sun about her return to the Las Vegas stage.

Q: Why did the Flamingo gig end?

In order to take a sit-down gig like at the Flamingo, you have to put everything on hold. One of the reasons we kind of decided to move on is that I had some commitments on the table, some dates with a lot of other casinos around the country — we’re in kind of a loop. You know it’s wonderful to still be wanted. People still call you to do things. I said, “Let me get these commitments over.” I do have my own record label now. I could not get into doing my own thing until I completed the last commitment with my old record company, and so I wanted to get that off the table. I said, “Let me clean up my plate a little bit.”

Was the Flamingo a positive experience? Would you do another?

I loved being at the Flamingo. I love the fact that people still come up to me and ask me when I’m coming back to the Flamingo. You don’t realize what an impact you’re making with people, sometimes, until you get away from it.

I would love to do it again. I loved it then. I just had other things to do. I wanted to spread my wings a little bit.

Do you still live in Vegas?

I live in Vegas, but my husband and I have a little farm in North Carolina. This is the time of life when you start living a little. When I was at the Flamingo, I had a chance to really spend time with my grandkids. I was in their lives. I was at the games. I saw them cheerleading and I saw them in their dance contests and their piano recitals. When I was on the road all the time I didn’t have that association to that degree, but I’ve always been in their lives.

What are your interests outside of family and business?

I’ve always wanted to do something here for the community in Las Vegas. I have such a passion for young people. Andre Agassi just beat me to it, doing something for the youth. I want to pass on to them some of this stuff that I’ve learned over the years, especially those young people who want to be in the entertainment industry. I’ve been trying to get my little school thing started.

I’ve been offered a couple of school situations, but I want to make sure that it’s the right fit. I just want to start on a small basis, maybe start doing my seminars first. Maybe start with young ladies. You can’t cure the world. You’ve got to start somewhere. I want to start with the young ladies because I feel there is something missing there.

Do you think young people are being asked to develop too quickly today, not being given a chance to evolve?

That’s what I’m talking about. We used to go on the road and we had mentors. We had role models with us. I was 6 years old when I first met Maurice King (who later became musical director for Motown). He was with us for several years before Berry Gordy got us. Gordy brought everybody who worked with us to start his artist development at Motown. He said he wanted the Motown groups to look like us. That was the greatest compliment he could have ever given us, even if he didn’t have personal time to devote to us like he did the Supremes and Smokey Robinson. He felt we had class and such precision that he hired the people we worked with — Charlie Atkins, Maurice King, Harvey Fuqua. They headed up artist development for Motown. That’s what’s missing today. Performing isn’t all about undressing and shaking your tail feathers and blowing up something and lights flashing all over the place. It’s exciting to watch, but you need more than that. Today’s young people need to learn how to perform and to develop themselves as people with character.

What’s next?

We’re on the road just about the rest of the year. Patti Labelle, Dionne Warwick and I have been talking about putting our Sisters Tour back on the road. We are so blessed, we’re all busy, busy, busy, so to get it done has been tough. We’re looking at maybe September or October for a tour — that can still happen. I’ll keep you posted.