Photo: Instagram
She was the bee on The Masked Singer!
By Amy Lamare — Written on Feb 28, 2019
We've all had a ton of fun trying to guess who was who on The Masked Singer. On Wednesday night, seaon one of the show came to an end with The Monster, The Peacock, and The Bee facing off in a two hour season finale. Only one could win and that winner was The Monster, who was revealed to be rapper T-Pain! The Peacock was second and revealed to be Donny Osmond. Finally in third place was the bee and that was non other than legendary soul singer Gladys Knight. Gladys is having a heck of a good year. The Midnight Train to Georgia star's voice is as strong as ever at age 74. She's also fresh off singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in Atlanta: her hometown. This got us wondering about the Empress of Soul's personal life. Who is Gladys Knight's husband?
1. Is her husband a Pip?
Gladys Knight has been married four times. None of her husbands were members of her R&B group Gladys Knight and the Pips. She married James "Jimmy" Newman in 1960 at 16. The couple had two children, but he was a drug addict and abandoned Gladys and the kids when she was 20. In 1974, she marred Barry Hankerson. They had one son and divored in 1979. In 1995, she married motivational speaker Les Brown. They separated and divorced in 1997.
2. So who is she married to now?
In 2001, Gladys Knight married William McDowell. Together they have 17 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. They live in North Carolina.
3. How accurate were the guesses that Knight was the Bee?
As it turns out, Gladys Knight's voice is pretty distinctive. The prediction website GoldDerby.com ran a poll asking people who they thought the people behind the final three contestant on The Masked Singer were. An overwhelming 70% of the respondants said that Gladys Knight was the Bee while 12% thought it was Patti LaBelle and another 18% said it was somone else.
4. Why did she do the show?
It has to be asked: why would an artist of Gladys Knight's stature do something as silly as dress up like a giant bee for a singing competition? Host Nick Cannon asked her the same thing. She said that being in the costume was hard because she couldn't see anything and she missed seeing the audience. She also said on why she decided to join the hit reality TV show: “We should always strive to do different kinds of things because they elevate us eventually.”
5. What's next for Gladys?
Well, after The Masked Singer and the Super Bowl, the 74-year-old icon is having a heck of a year so far. Next up, she can sit back and watch Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland play her in the new BET series American Soul, which tells the story of Don Cornelius and the creation of the show Soul Train. Back in the early days of the show, Gladys Knight gave it credibiity by appearing on the show. Knight also has a number of concerts on her upcoming schedule. She is scheduled to play 29 concerts starting March 1 in Reno, Nevada and criss-crossing the US and Europe.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.