Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Gladys Knight To Receive ELLA Award

LOS ANGELES, Apr. 17, 2007
 (AP)

 

(AP) Gladys Knight will receive the 16th annual ELLA Award from the Society of Singers. The honor, named after its first recipient, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald, salutes entertainers for their musical successes and dedication to charitable and humanitarian causes.

"It is a truly awesome feeling to be receiving this honor. Ella was the sweetest and most beautiful person as a talent and as a human being," Knight said Tuesday.

Knight will receive the award Sept. 10. Past winners include Elton John, Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion.

"Gladys Knight has one of the greatest and most distinctive voices of our time," said Jerry F. Sharell, the Society of Singers' president and chief executive officer. (The Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization offers services to meet the emergency financial needs of professional singers worldwide.)

Knight, 62, has won seven Grammys in her career, with hits including "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)."

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