‘Empress of Soul’ to play Farewell Tour

Gladys Knight will take stage at Symphony Hall on Saturday

By K eith O ’C onnor Special to The Republican

Known as the “Empress of Soul,” Gladys Knight, minus the Pips, will bring her Farewell Tour to Springfield Symphony Hall on Saturday.

Showtime for the MGM Springfield-sponsored event is 8 p.m.

Knight, 78, one of the most influential soul and R&B voices for more than half a century, is a seven-time Grammy winner who has enjoyed No. 1 hits in pop, gospel, R&B and adult contemporary. She has also made a name for herself in film, television and live performance.

She has received numerous accolades throughout her career. In addition to Grammys, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the annual

Scottish

CONTINUES FROM PAGE E2 running for a fee. Kids can also participate in their own Children’s Highland Games - rope pull, caber toss, Haggis toss, sack race - from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. next to the Water Spray area. Always a favorite at the festival, young participants can step up to a loom and do some weaving with the Spinners and Weaver’s Guild of Springfield.

While most vendors leave the event around 5 p.m., the festival continues with closing ceremonies at 5:30 p.m. and

BET Awards ceremony in 2004. Gladys Knight & The Pips were inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1966 and were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2021, Knight was awarded the National Medal of the Arts, the highest honor given to artists and art patrons by the United States Government, followed in 2022 by President Joe Biden presenting her with the Kennedy Center Honors.

Born in Georgia, Knight began performing gospel music at age four in the Mount Mariah Baptist Church and sang as a guest soloist with the Morris Brown College Choir. Three years later, she won the grand prize on television’s “Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour,” and the following year, her mother Elizabeth Knight created The Pips consisting of Gladys, her brother Bubba, her sister Brenda and her cousins William and Elenor Guest.

In 1959, Brenda and Elenor left the group, replaced by entertainment in the Celtic Pub until 8:30 p.m. cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George and the group was renamed Gladys Knight & The Pips.

Tickets at the gate are $25 and $5 for children ages 6-12. Advance tickets online at glasgowlands.org are $22 for adults and $5 for kids with fees added at checkout.

Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting other local nonprofits and last year donated monies to Forum House in Westfield and River Valley Counseling Center in Holyoke. Visit glasgowlands. org for more information and a complete schedule of additional activities, all held whether rain or shine.

In addition to performing with The Pips, Knight recorded multiple tunes and albums that topped the R&B charts including “Good Woman,” “Men” and “Just for You.” Her latest effort, “Where My Heart Belongs,” was a jazz-related gospel music album released in 2014. Her last album with the Pips, “All Our Love” containing the hit song “Love Overboard,” was released in 1987 and was certified gold

Thanks to early screening and detection, Knight was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer when it is most treatable. The cancer survivor shared the news of her health scare Following the death of her good friend Aretha Franklin due to pancreatic cancer in August 2018.

While no setlist is confirmed for Springfield, according to concerty.com the top 10 most played songs by Gladys Knight in her last 40 concerts have included “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “The Way We Were,” “Take Me To the King,” and songs while with The Pips such as “Love Overboard,” “Midnight Train To Georgia,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,”

“I’ve Got To Use My Imagination,” “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye),” and “Every Beat of My Heart.” Limited tickets, ranging in price from $108 to $679, are available online at symphonyhallspringfield. com.