Gladys Knight's mother, Elizabeth Knight, dies at age 80 in Las Vegas

Jet, Jan 12, 1998

Elizabeth "Gram" Knight, 80, who helped launch her daughter Gladys Knight's legendary singing career and organized. The Pips, recently died in Las Vegas.

Elizabeth Knight confined her own singing to the gospel choir at Atlanta's Mount Moriah Baptist Church. Mrs. Knight's daughter, Gladys, at age 4 also sang in the church's choir, which served as her first public showcase, said Gladys Knight's daughter Kenya Jackson.

Four years later, Gladys Knight won the national grand prize on TV's famed "Tea Mack Amateur Hour."

Gladys Knight joined her brother, sister and cousins to become The Pips in the 1950s. The group scored its first hit, Every Beat Of My Heart, in 1960.

Elizabeth Knight "literally put the group together," Kenya Jackson said of her grandmother. "She's the one who set up the structure and finances." Elizabeth Knight was Gladys' financial officer from the beginning of her careen

Mrs. Knight is survived by daughters Gladys Maria Knight and Brenda Knight Clark; sons singer Merald "Bubba" Knight Jr. and David Leon Knight, eight grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.