Gladys Maria Knight, known as the Empress of Soul, is an American recording artist, songwriter, businesswoman, humanitarian and author. A four-time Grammy Award-winner, she is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s and 1970s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, the most famous incarnation of which also included her brother Merald Bubba Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.