June 14 1999
LAS VEGAS (AP) - James "Jimmy" Newman, the son and manager of singer Gladys Knight, died Saturday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 36. Newman, a 22-year resident, managed his mother's career through his Newman Management Inc., one of four Knight-related companies sharing offices in Southern Nevada.
An official cause of death is pending. This year, Newman helped his mother launch Many Roads, a specialty record label formed to support her recent gospel album, "Many Different Roads," and other gospel artists. According to the album's media materials, Newman brought many of the songs to Knight's attention, including "Jesus' Love Is Like a River," a song co-written by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. Newman was the singer's eldest child and was named after his father, Knight's late first husband.
Newman's birth on Aug. 13, 1962, interrupted the fledgling career of Gladys Knight & The Pips, the singer once told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Women weren't liberated then. It was a natural expectation that I would probably want to go be a wife and a mother, and I did want that," she said of time spent in her native Georgia away from the Pips, while the group pursued opportunities in New York. Within a year, partly motivated by financial need, she decided to get back into show business, and the group went on to carve its place in R&B history.
Besides his mother, 55, of Henderson; and stepfather, Barry Hankerson of California; Newman is survived by his wife, Michelene; daughters Nastasia and Gabrielle; and sons Rishawn, Stefan and Sterling; all of Las Vegas; a sister, Kenya Jackson of Henderson; and brothers, Shanga Hankerson of Atlanta, Jomo Hankerson of New York City and Jimmy Jordan of Atlanta.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Red Rock Stake Center, 221Lorenzi St. Burial will follow at Palm Valley View Cemetery.
The family requests memorial donations be made to the Newman Children Education Fund at Wells Fargo Bank, Account No. 6835665183.
Monday, June 14, 1999
Friday, June 11, 1999
Gladys Knight keeps busy and happy in her music 1999
Gladys Knight keeps busy and happy in her music
by Steve Jones USA Today 06/11/1999
Gladys Knight has a lot to smile about these days. After a lifetime in show business filled with pain and glory, the R&B legend is right where she wants to be - happy, in demand and able to combine her work, family and faith.
Fifty years after Little Miss Gladys Knight rose in the pulpit of Atlanta's Mt. Moriah Baptist Church to give her first recital, the 54-year-old singer released Many Different Roads, her first inspirational album.
"A lot of people are like, this is your 50th anniversary, aren't you going to have a party?" Knight says. "It's a milestone, but I'm just in awe of my still being here. I have a mission to let my light shine."
Over the years, the three-time Grammy winner has shone frequently on such impassioned R&B classics as "Letter Full of Tears," "If I Were Your Woman," "Save the Overtime (For Me)" and her signature, "Midnight Train to Georgia."
The album, released at the end of 1998, was produced by her 37-year-old son and manager, Jimmy Newman, on Many Roads Records, of which he is president. It features her first recording in a decade with the Pips and two songs written by Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican - Utah.
And that's not all that's keeping her busy. Knight has been touring since September, and performs at Pine Knob tonight. Last year Columbia Legacy released Gladys Knight & the Pips Live at the Roxy, featuring unreleased tracks from a 1980 engagement at the West Hollywood club. Knight has a recurring role on The Jamie Foxx Show as the lead character's mother. And she and the group, already members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, were honored by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation last year. "I've had so many things happening to me this year, it's just awesome," Knight says, letting loose a peal of the throaty laughter that punctuates her conversation. "When you've been here for so long, you start feeling like you're supposed to get jaded, but when you get so many blessings, you just keep going."
Knight attributes her contentment to her newfound Mormon faith, which she embraced last year while dealing with her divorce from her third husband, inspirational speaker Les Brown.
Knight says she had long admired the way some members put the church's principles into practice, but she had concerns about joining.
"The questions I had to ask were questions that anyone of my descent would probably ask about blacks in the church. I was able to ask those questions and in my spirit be peaceful and satisfied with the answers."
Working on the 13-song inspirational album was another source of joy for Knight, who had always wanted to do one. On "Good Morning Heavenly Father" she reunites with brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousin William Guest. The third Pip, cousin Edward Patten, no longer sings because of a stroke five years ago.
She says that she'd had no idea that Hatch was a songwriter, but he'd been a friend of her son's for a long time and she was impressed with his lyrics. On the track "Many Different Roads," Hatch - who calls Knight "a great person and a great artist" - pays tribute to Princess Diana and Mother Teresa; Knight and gospel singer and producer Kurt Carr added a verse about Knight's mother, Elizabeth "Gram" Knight.
Gladys Knight has a lot to smile about these days. After a lifetime in show business filled with pain and glory, the R&B legend is right where she wants to be - happy, in demand and able to combine her work, family and faith.
Fifty years after Little Miss Gladys Knight rose in the pulpit of Atlanta's Mt. Moriah Baptist Church to give her first recital, the 54-year-old singer released Many Different Roads, her first inspirational album.
"A lot of people are like, this is your 50th anniversary, aren't you going to have a party?" Knight says. "It's a milestone, but I'm just in awe of my still being here. I have a mission to let my light shine."
Over the years, the three-time Grammy winner has shone frequently on such impassioned R&B classics as "Letter Full of Tears," "If I Were Your Woman," "Save the Overtime (For Me)" and her signature, "Midnight Train to Georgia."
The album, released at the end of 1998, was produced by her 37-year-old son and manager, Jimmy Newman, on Many Roads Records, of which he is president. It features her first recording in a decade with the Pips and two songs written by Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican - Utah.
And that's not all that's keeping her busy. Knight has been touring since September, and performs at Pine Knob tonight. Last year Columbia Legacy released Gladys Knight & the Pips Live at the Roxy, featuring unreleased tracks from a 1980 engagement at the West Hollywood club. Knight has a recurring role on The Jamie Foxx Show as the lead character's mother. And she and the group, already members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, were honored by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation last year. "I've had so many things happening to me this year, it's just awesome," Knight says, letting loose a peal of the throaty laughter that punctuates her conversation. "When you've been here for so long, you start feeling like you're supposed to get jaded, but when you get so many blessings, you just keep going."
Knight attributes her contentment to her newfound Mormon faith, which she embraced last year while dealing with her divorce from her third husband, inspirational speaker Les Brown.
Knight says she had long admired the way some members put the church's principles into practice, but she had concerns about joining.
"The questions I had to ask were questions that anyone of my descent would probably ask about blacks in the church. I was able to ask those questions and in my spirit be peaceful and satisfied with the answers."
Working on the 13-song inspirational album was another source of joy for Knight, who had always wanted to do one. On "Good Morning Heavenly Father" she reunites with brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousin William Guest. The third Pip, cousin Edward Patten, no longer sings because of a stroke five years ago.
She says that she'd had no idea that Hatch was a songwriter, but he'd been a friend of her son's for a long time and she was impressed with his lyrics. On the track "Many Different Roads," Hatch - who calls Knight "a great person and a great artist" - pays tribute to Princess Diana and Mother Teresa; Knight and gospel singer and producer Kurt Carr added a verse about Knight's mother, Elizabeth "Gram" Knight.
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