‘Number one for two straight weeks’: What happened to the Pips?

Gladys Knight and the Pips may be music legends today, but they started as a family band in Atlanta, Georgia, singing together in the living room of their family home at a birthday party.

At just eight years old, little Gladys, known now as the Empress of Soul and still singing her heart out at 80, won Ted Mack’s The Original Amateur Hour (a television talent contest known as the precursor to the likes of American Idol). Soon after, when her mother heard her, her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight, and their cousins sing at a birthday party, the Pips were born.

Named after cousin and manager James “Pip” Woods, the band would go on to have multiple line-ups with different family members until settling with Gladys, “Bubba,” and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten under the band name Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Although they had been performing since 1952, the group’s first hit single wouldn’t come until they released their cover of “Every Beat of My Heart” in 1961 with Fury Records. They famously signed with Motown Records in 1966. Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield recalled a story about their audition for the label in a podcast episode about “Midnight Train to Georgia,” ranked 470th on the magazine’s official “500 Greatest Songs” list.

“They got a call that Motown would give them an audition, not a gig, but an audition. But the catch was they had to pay their own way to Detroit from New York. They have no money, they’re broke. (…) The guitarist decides to pawn his guitar.”

Gladys Knight and the Pips’ time at Motown was more than a little underwhelming, as the label often prioritized other artists. Still, in 1967 would release “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” making it all the way to number 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 before it was outshone by Marvin Gaye‘s version of the song.

The band found the most success under Buddah Records with their signature song “Midnight Train to Georgia,” which became their first and only number-one hit and is, still, to this day, recognized as one of the greatest songs in the American soul catalog. The quartet would have multiple hit singles and win prestigious awards, including seven American Music Awards and three Grammys before they permanently and amicably disbanded in 1989.

Where are the Pips now?

Sadly, only the Knight siblings remain today. Gladys, of course, went on to have an extremely successful solo career, becoming a household name and legend in the process. Just recently, she appeared at the 50th anniversary of the American Music Awards to perform “Midnight Train to Georgia” and on The View to serenade Whoopi Goldberg for her birthday, with her voice as booming as ever and looking stunning in heels, too.

Merald “Bubba” Knight, meanwhile, is 82 years old and mostly retired from the public eye, though he did make an appearance at the Las Vegas Production of Follies in April! That’s also where he currently resides. The remaining members, Edward Patten and William Guest have both passed away. Patten died in 2005 of complications from diabetes after losing his two legs, followed by Guest in 2015 from congestive heart failure. He was 74.

Gladys Knight and The Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for “Midnight Train to Georgia” and again in 2018 for “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” They also received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.