Knight rejoined in 1964 and this lineup continued until the group's disbandment in 1989. Langston George left the same year and Gladys Knight left in 1962 to start a family with musician Jimmy Newman. After the single was released on three different labels, they changed their name to Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1961. This lineup produced the group's first hit single, ' Every Beat of My Heart'. Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest eventually left the group and were replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten, and a non-relative, Langston George in 1959. After a couple of years performing in talent shows, the group signed with Brunswick Records in 1957, recording a couple of singles that failed to chart. Starting out as simply The Pips in 1952, derived from a cousin's nickname, the founding members were Gladys Knight, brother Merald 'Bubba' Knight, sister Brenda Knight and cousins Eleanor Guest and William Guest. He ran his own management company and his list of clients included his own mother.Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. He graduated from the University of San Diego in 1984. He was just 37 years old.Īccording to his obituary in the Las Vegas Sun, Newman III played football at Bishop Gorman High School. James Newman III died from heart failure in Las Vegas, reportedly in his sleep. Gladys Knight lost her oldest son in July of 1999. James Newman’s Son Died at the Age of 37 From Heart Failure She is also the mother of five children.ĥ. According to a profile in People in 1997, Kenya had two bakeries in Las Vegas: Kenya’s Gourmet Bakery and Kenya’s Cakes of the Stars. Their daughter, Kenya Newman Jackson, arrived the following year. He was married to wife Micheline and they had five children, three sons and two daughters. As an adult, he became his mother’s manager.

Their son, James Gaston Newman III, was born in 1962. But they went on to have two children together. James Newman and Gladys Knight’s first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. James Newman & Gladys Knight Got Married After She Became Pregnant Newman of Louisiana, who played at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, died in 2014 at the age of 86.Ģ. James Newman should not be confused with another musician of the same name. He reportedly served as a music manager for his wife’s band the Pips. Newman is described by as an Atlanta musician. Knight was born and raised in Atlanta and began her musical career as a young child. James Newman and Gladys Knight may have bonded over a shared love of music. James Newman Was Reportedly a Musician in Atlanta Newman passed away in the mid-1970s and little biographical information is known about him.ġ. Knight was married to her first husband at the young age of 16. James Gaston Newman II was the first husband of legendary singer Gladys Knight, who is singing the national anthem at Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Gladys Knight attends SiriusXM at Super Bowl LIII Radio Row on Januin Atlanta, Georgia.

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