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Gladys Knight fronted a soulful gospel tribute to the late Aretha Franklin on Tuesday at the 2018 American Music Awards. Ledisi, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans joined for the all-star medley performance, which highlighted Franklin’s gospel roots and herseminal 1972 album,Amazing Grace.
Knight opened the show-closing set with a tender version of “Amazing Grace,” belting over piano and organ. The other singers followed with emphatic, spiritual takes on songs like “Climbing Higher Mountains,” “Mary, Don’t You Weep” and “How I Got Over.”
Knight, a personal friend of Franklin’s, alsoperformed at the soul legend’s Detroit, Michigan funeral, singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Her appearance, however, was clouded with confusion when a local TV station reported that the vocalist said she was battling pancreatic cancer – the disease that killed Franklin.Knight subsequently clarifiedthat she had previously been diagnosed with stage one breast cancer but is now “cancer-free.”
Franklin died in August at age 76, prompting tributes from numerous artists, includingMavis Staples,Smokey Robinson,Chris Stapleton,Celine DionandMariah Carey. Record executive Clive Davis isreportedly planning an all-star Franklin tribute concertfor November 14th at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
