Singers like Gladys Knight are mostly responsible for how I learned to sing.
Even before coming into the industry, I was a big fan of Motown, the Jackson 5, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, Diana Ross and The Supremes.
My mom actually had a band called Six Pack - even though there were seven of them - who went around Chicago performing popular songs. Her voice was like Gladys Knight mixed with Aretha Franklin.
I like Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle. I would love to do songs with them.
It wasn't until my late teens that I really got into soul music and then I was like 'Ooh, this is good!' You'd always here it at old family parties, like, Gladys Knight and I'd always love it but I didn't really get to know it and respect it until I was a bit older.
There weren't any white people in this country who didn't know who Gladys Knight was. Or the Pips were, as far as that's concerned.
Of all the soul divas, Gladys Knight was the one for me. Knight's always been about tone and heart, none of the big showboating or extraneous doodling. She nailed a melody and only played a little around the edges like Ma Staple.
As a kid, I was big into Al Green, Gladys Knight and the Pips, but as I got older, I started listening to all sorts of music, including country.
