Gladys Knight with Charles Lewis & Diana Lee

Hailed as the Empress of Soul, very few singers over the last 50 years have matched her unassailable artistry. This seven-time Grammy Award winner has enjoyed #1 hits in pop, gospel, R&B and adult contemporary, and has triumphed in film, television and live performance. In her first effort since 2013’s Another Journey, this summer marked the release of Where My Heart Belongs, a new inspiration gospel album. Knight is a two-time Grammy winner in the gospel category, and Where My Heart Belongs dropped on Sept. 9 from Deseret Book, and recently won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Album.

Georgia-born, Knight began performing gospel music at age four in the Mount Moriah 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 group consisting of Gladys, her brother Bubba, her sister Brenda and her cousins William and Elenor Guest. They called themselves The Pips in honor of their cousin/manager, James Pip Woods.

About Charles Lewis

Some of his earliest musical influences include Oscar Peterson, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gelespie, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Nat King Cole. Charles moved to Arizona in 1953 when he enrolled at Arizona State University. He began performing at the famous 7th Ave Elks Club in 1954. He played with several bands before forming his own band, The Charles Lewis Quintet. He landed a gig at the Playboy Club in Phoenix in 1961. He also created musical madness when he performed at the Hatchcover in Scottsdale, as this was the hottest musical residency ever in Arizona for years.

About Diana Lee

The daughter of proprietors of a prominent music store in Glendale, Arizona, Diana Lee toured the country with many bands, including Donnie Dean (guitarist featured on “Tighten Up” Archie Bell & the Drells). Diana Lee went on to tour around the world with Sister Sledge of “We Are Family” fame 1999-2009. She has performed with countless other superstars such as Reba McEntire, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Diana Ross, Neil Sedaka, David Foster and many others. She released her first jazz CD to pay homage to her influencers calling the full-length record “Mentor” in 2015. She continues to perform, record, produce and is a music educator here in the “Valley of the Sun” Phoenix.