The eternal soul legend Gladys Knight started her career in the late '50s, and she continues to tour regularly at the age of 82. In recent months, though there have been reports of her giving troubling performances, missing cues and wandering around the stage as if she's lost. It doesn't happen every night, and she seems firmly in control at many of her shows. But a recent Reddit thread raised concerns that Knight is "in cognitive decline," that she's being exploited by the people around her.
In July, Gladys Knight played the Hollywood Bowl with fellow Motown veteran Smokey Robinson, and Billboard critic Paul Grein wrote, "She barely got through this show, and only by leaning heavily on her backup singers. Artists need to know when it’s time to bow out gracefully." Videos from recent concerts show Knight being led around the stage and sometimes standing aside to watch her backup singers take the lead parts.
@michelleshimohara We saw the legendary Gladys Knight with Smokey Robinson. Poor thing, she seems like she is not well. When she did sing ? , she sounded amazing. Big hugs and prayers to Gladys Knight
♬ original sound - Michelle Your Real Estate Gal
@tmz ? EXCLUSIVE: Gladys Knight's fans are deeply concerned she's being forced to perform shows after she looked totally out of it at multiple concerts, and now people working on her tour are calling it absolutely "tragic" ... TMZ has learned.
♬ original sound - TMZ
In a social media statement that she shared yesterday. Knight said that she "will be easing into fewer performances while focusing on transitioning into the next stage of my career and life moving forward." She talks about spending time on "projects" with her husband and "visiting with my grandbabies," but she also says she's looking forward to seeing fans out on the road.
Knight's husband/manager William McDowell tells TMZ, "No one is ever gonna make me say, 'My wife is well,' but all she wants to do is sing." He says that he's building a venue in North Carolina, near where they live, so that Knight can keep performing without traveling.
One year ago, Good Morning America reported that Knight's son Shanga Hankerson was accusing McDowell of elder abuse: "I don't want my mom out on tour, on a tour bus, wondering where she's at." Hankerson has actually been raising concerns that his mother might have dementia and Alzheimer's disease since 2016, when she sued him to have her name removed from his Gladys Knight's Chicken And Waffles restaurant.
