Soon, it will be two months since the passing of legendary musician Aretha Franklin. Tributes for the Queen of Soul have continued to pour in from people and institutions around the world. At last night's American Music Awards, Aretha's friend and fellow musician Gladys Knight took to the stage to perform a gospel tribute to the late singer.
Knight was at the helm of a group of immensely talented musicians who had gathered to pay tribute to Aretha. Duo Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans and Knight joined forces to deliver a powerful medley performance comprised of some of Aretha's gospel hits from her 1972 album, Amazing Grace. Knight opened the performance with an endearing rendition of Aretha's “Amazing Grace,” accompanied by a tender piano and organ. The other aforementioned performers masterfully put a spiritual take on Aretha's other classics “Mary, Don’t You Weep,” “Climbing Higher Mountains,” and “How I Got Over."
Fans may recall that Knight, also performed at Aretha's public funeral in her home city of Detroit, Michigan funeral, taking to the stage to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Knight's appearance did however evoke murmurings about her health when a local television station claimed that Knight was battling the same cancer that killed Aretha - pancreatic cancer. Knight cleared up the matter in a statement to Rolling Stone where she clarified that she is now “cancer-free” after having previously been diagnosed with stage one breast cancer.
