Gladys Knight has been singing since the age of 8. First finding success with her family’s funk-soul band Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Georgia native struck out on her own with her 1978 solo debut, Miss Gladys Knight. At 81, the seven-time Grammy Award winner hasn’t slowed down, currently preparing to resume “The Queens” tour with Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, and Stephanie Mills.
However, not everyone considers Knight’s packed touring schedule a good thing. The R&B legend’s son, Shanga Hankerson, recently expressed concern that her husband, William McDowell, is mentally and financially abusing Knight. Now, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is speaking out to refute those allegations.
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Gladys Knight Assures Fans She Is “Happy and Healthy”
In a statement, Knight claimed that her “health and performances have been misrepresented.”
“I want my fans and those concerned to rest assured I am doing very well for someone who has been on stage for three quarters of a century, hard to believe, right?” she said. “I’m healthy and happy and visiting friends and family these last few months. I’m excited to get back on the road with my sisters and on stage with The Queens Tour. See you soon.”
As Gladys Knight continues to perform into her ninth decade, videos have surfaced on social media of the best-selling artists seeming to stumble over her own lyrics. Shanga Hankerson believes this is just one of many alarming signs of his mother’s cognitive decline — and he has accused her husband and manager, William McDowell, of forcing her to perform to the detriment of her own health.
“I did my best to give [McDowell] the space to play the role of husband and do what was in my mom’s best interest, and he has not done that,” Hankerson, 49, told People. “Why is she working? Why is she in this situation where she’s being made to believe that she has to work like this? That’s really my issue with it.”
[RELATED: Watch: Gladys Knight Performs “Midnight Train to Georgia” for Whoopi’s Birthday]
Hankerson is Knight’s son with her second husband, producer Barry Hankerson. The “Heard It Through the Grapevine” singer married McDowell, 48, in 2001.
According to Hankerson, he filed a complaint with the Department of Human Services in Buncombe County, North Carolina, earlier this month. People reports that the case is “allegedly ongoing.”
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