Gladys Knight at the Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center -- December 16.
Thursday, December 16, 8 p.m.
Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, 7077 Elmore Avenue, Davenport IA
Performing locally as a holiday gift to fans, the chart-topping, seven-time Grammy-winning music legend Gladys Knight brings her national tour to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on December 16, treating audiences to a remarkable repertoire dating back to the 1960s and boasting such unforgettable hits as “Every Beat of My Heart,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and “Midnight Train to Georgia.”
An icon in the realms of pop, gospel, R&B, and adult contemporary, Knight's career has spanned more than 50 years and her fame was jump-started with the debut of her groups Gladys Knight & the Pips, an ensemble that also included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten. Originating in 1960 with its headliner only 16-years-old, Gladys Knight & the Pips went on to achieve many Top 20 hits, among them "Every Beat of My Heart," "Letter Full of Tears," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," and "If I Were Your Woman," setting the stage for an amazing run in the mid-1970s with such Top 10, gold-certified singles as "Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye)," "I've Got to Use My Imagination," "Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me," and the number-one smash "Midnight Train to Georgia," all of which helped establish the group as the world's premiere pop/R&B vocal artists.
While still with the Pips, Knight joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1985 AIDS-benefit single "That's What Friends Are For," a chart-topping mega-hit that won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. In 1987, Knight decided to pursue a solo career, and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together in 1987's All Our Love. Its infectious lead single "Love Overboard" was a number-one R&B hit that won Knight another Grammy, and after a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Knight began her solo career. Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1989, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
Between her solo career and her tenure with the Pips, and in addition to her chart-topping "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "That's What Friends Are For," Knight has recorded 11 number-one R&B singles and six number-one R&B albums, has won seven Grammy Awards (four as a solo artist and three with the Pips), and found her songs "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for their "historical, artistic, and significant" value. She also recorded the title track for 1989's James Bond film License to Kill, and Rolling Stone ranked Knight among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Additionally, as a humanitarian and philanthropist, Knight has devoted her time and energies to various worthy causes including the American Diabetes Association – for which she is a national spokesperson – the American Cancer Society, the Minority AIDS Project, amFAR and Crisis Intervention, and the Boys & Girls Club. She has been honored by numerous organizations, as well, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), B'Nai Brith, and is a recent recipient of BET's Lifetime Achievement Award. Achievement Award.
Gladys Knights performs at the Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on December 16, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $55-125, and more information and tickets are available by calling (844)852-4386 and visiting RhythmCityCasino.com.
