+
Pop Culture

In 1974, Gladys Knight sang the Grammy nominees for best song. She slayed every single one.

We bow before the Empress of Soul and her unreal vocal skills.

gladys knight grammy award

Gladys Knight isn't known as the Empress of Soul for nothing.

In this world, there is no shortage of people who can carry a tune. But there are singers, and then there are singers.

We don't need to debate who has the best singing voice, as that's really a matter of taste. But there are a handful of singers who can sing anything, anytime, anywhere and sound amazing every single time they open their mouths.

In 1974, Gladys Knight clearly solidified her spot on that list.


At the 16th Grammy Awards, Gladys Knight and the Pips were the presenters for Song of the Year. But instead of simply naming the nominees, Knight sang snippets from each song (with some backup help from the band and the Pips).

Knight was 29 years old at the time and had just won her first two Grammy awards, one for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus with "Midnight Train to Georgia" and one for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus with "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)."

Even for an award-winning singer, the idea of singing the nominations—parts of five different songs from five different artists in five different styles back to back—seems daunting. But Knight pulled it off flawlessly, sounding as good as, if not better than, each of the original artists as she sang. The richness of her voice, her pitch-perfect delivery and the emotion with which she sang each song is simply unreal.

Watch her just effortlessly slay portions of each of these nominees:

"Feel Like Makin' Love" (Greg McDaniels)

"I Honestly Love You" (Peter Allen, Jeff Barry)

"Midnight at the Oasis" (David Nichtern)

"The Way We Were" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch)

"You and Me Against the World" (Paul Williams, Kenneth Ascher)

She isn't known as the Empress of Soul for nothing.

Knight has won seven Grammy awards and has been inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (along with the Pips). Most recently, she made headlines for her gracious response after a sports commentator mistook Dionne Warwick for her at Serena Williams' final tennis match. Though both singers were in attendance, they were not sitting together and when cameras panned to Warwick, the announcer mistook her for Knight.

“Dionne and I have been sisters for a long time, and I hope she is as honored to be mistaken for me as I would be her,” Knight said in a statement to NBC News. “I’m sure it was an honest mistake. It was a blessing to be in the house to see Serena’s greatness.”

Knight will also be starring in an upcoming holiday film, "Someday at Christmas."

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Amanda Bynes is on a 72-hour hold: What that means and why fans are applauding her

"The fact that Amanda Bynes flagged a car down, told them she was having a psychotic episode and called 911 herself actually gives me a lot of hope for her well-being."

Amanda Bynes is on a 72-hour hold.

It's not a secret that celebrities are just like everyone else and sometimes struggle with mental health concerns. Amanda Bynes is no exception, and she has been quite open about her mental health struggles over the years. In 2013, Bynes was placed under conservatorship after a few mental health crises that put herself and others in danger.

Since the conservatorship was ended in 2021, Bynes has remained essentially out of public view and was scheduled to appear with her "All That" cast members at 90s Con. But recently, Bynes went in for a 72-hour psychiatric hold after experiencing a psychotic episode that led her to walking around downtown Los Angeles without any clothing. During a moment of clarity, the 36-year-old actress flagged down a car and called 911.

While walking around a busy city naked can certainly qualify as risk of harm to oneself, Bynes' actions after regaining a sense of reality are important. There are two types of psychiatric holds: voluntary and involuntary. Clearly, a voluntary hold is more desirable and shows promise for marked improvement because you're the one recognizing the need for psychiatric care. Bynes making the phone call herself shows that she knew, in that moment, her behavior was unsafe and she needed help.

Keep ReadingShow less

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Dad had no idea he was auditioning for 'Britain's Got Talent.' He brought the house down anyway.

His two little girls called him up on stage to perform the song he wrote for them.

Nick Edwards had no idea he was going to be singing for Britain's Got Talent until his mom and daughters showed up on stage.

We've seen some moving America's Got Talent stories before, but a recent viral audition absolutely requires a tissue warning. I tried to steel myself in preparation when I saw the "Admit it, we were *all* in tears after this" caption on the Facebook share of it, but I failed.

In a video that's been shared more than 95,000 times, the "Britain's Got Talent" audition shows two tiny little girls onstage with their grandmother. They introduce themselves as "Cally" (age 4) and "Savannah" (age 3) and "Nanny" (their "daddy's mummy") then the girls share that they are there to surprise their dad.

Dad—also known as Nick Edwards—is sitting in the audience. He thought the family was there to watch the audition on a fun outing; he had no idea that they had arranged a surprise audition for him, so when his girls and mom showed up on stage, he wondered what was going on.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Woman shares sweet exchange with 92-year-old grandpa who invited her over for 'sleepover'

“We can order food and watch a mystery show. Love, grandpa.”

via Pexels

A grandfather and granddaughter holding hands.

Loneliness is one of the most dangerous health problems in the United States, although it’s seldom discussed. Psychology Today says loneliness has the same mortality risks as obesity, smoking, alcoholism and physical inactivity.

A meta-analysis from Brigham Young University found that social isolation may increase the risk of premature death by up to 50%. The problem with loneliness is that people suffer in silence and it afflicts the ones we don’t see.

A TikTok user who goes by the name Megan Elizabeth recently shared a touching story on social media about how her grandfather was feeling lonely so he reached out to her. The story shows what can happen when one person is brave enough to confront their social isolation and the important role grandkids can play in their grandparents’ lives.

Keep ReadingShow less

Jason K. Pargin shares his controversial theory on lobster.

Novelist Jason K. Pargin has inspired an online food fight after his video about lobster received over 500,000 views on Tiktok and nearly 6 million on Twitter. Pargin believes that we’ve all been tricked into liking lobster and that people only like it because it’s considered high class.

Pargin is the author of the “John Dies at the End” and “Zoey Ashe” series and the former editor of Cracked.com.

"I don't think anyone actually enjoys eating lobster. I think they've just been convinced that it's a high-class food for a really specific reason,” Pargin says in his controversial video. He then describes how just a few centuries ago lobster was once used as prisoners' food and ground into fertilizer.

Keep ReadingShow less