Best known for her time in the legendary Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Atlanta-born Empress of Soul is one of the greatest singers to have ever lived, according to Rolling Stone. Two of her set list mainstays, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia," are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. The 81-year-old National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors recipient/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame vocalist was so good, so early, that Diana Ross allegedly kicked her off a Motown tour bus out of jealousy. – Kahron Spearman
