Singer Gladys Knight, now sailing along on a solo career without her retired Pips, rarely makes it to our area these days.
Her last visit, was somewhat close, a few years back for a concert in 2008 at the Country Club Hills Theater, the beautiful and intimate little outdoor venue in Country Club Hills, Ill.
But fortunately, Knight is back and literally right in our own backyard this time.
She'll be performing 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 27 at The Venue at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond. Tickets are $30 to $95 and available by calling (219) 473-6060.
Knight, 66, is a true entertainment legend who has survived many ups and downs.
She appeared with her Pips on the final episode of Ed Sullivan's famous variety show in 1971. However, at the time, like Sullivan, she had no idea she was on the series' final episode since CBS executives had not even informed the show's famous stone-faced host he was canceled despite his show's run on the network since 1948.
She's also survived four marriages, the sudden 1999 death (in his sleep) of her 36-year-old son James Newman, who also served as her manager, an early miscarriage, a very public struggle with gambling addiction and battling weight gains and constant dieting.
She even teamed up with the American Diabetes Association to publish her own 200-page cookbook to help others control their eating habits.
Her book "At Home with Gladys Knight" (2001 ADA Press $16.95) describes how she has learned to balance her diet and shares her own personal story of how at age 16, she joined her first Weight Watchers group after learning her own mother had been diagnosed with diabetes.
Ironically, she and her gospel singer friend Ron Winans partnered to open a chain of restaurants in the Atlanta, Ga., area called "Gladys & Ron's Chicken & Waffles."
In 2005, Winans died just two weeks shy of his 49th birthday due to heart complications.
Book it
This just in ... Giant of the basketball world, as well as Hollywood, Shaquille O'Neal is heading to Chicago next month with his mother to help her autograph copies of her new book "Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go" (2010 Thomas Nelson Press $22.99).
The mom and son duo will be at the Borders Books and Music, 830 N. Michigan Ave. at 6:30 p.m. April 7.
In this new book, which will be released March 30, Lucille O'Neal shares her public battles and personal struggles as a young, single mother of this NBA legend.
Shaq, who just turned 38 on March 6, towers more than 7 feet tall.
This is the same guy who, when he was just 5 years old, his mom says she had to carry around his birth certificate with her to prove to bus drivers and others (who tried to charge extra for, ahem, "Little Shaq") that he really wasn't 8 or 9 years old, despite his height.
In 1996, he signed the then-richest contract in sports history, when he inked a seven-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $120 million.
For more information about this book event, call (312) 573-0564 or visit borders.com.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or 219.852.4327.
Today's Celebrity Birthdays
Singer Phil Phillips is 79. Actor Michael Caine and composer-conductor Quincy Jones are 77. Country singer Michael Martin Murphey and sax player Walt Parazaider of Chicago are 65. Actor Steve Kanaly ("Dallas") is 64. Comedian Billy Crystal is 62. Michael Ford (son of President Ford) and DJ Rick Dees are 60. Actor Adrian Zmed and country singer Jann Browne are 56. Monaco's Prince Albert is 52. Actress Tamara Tunie is 51. Actress Penny Johnson Jerald ("24") is 49. Drummer Michael Bland of Soul Asylum is 41. Singer Kristian Bush of Sugarland is 40. Actress Grace Park ("Battlestar Galactica") is 36. Actor Chris Klein is 31. Singer-keyboardist Taylor Hanson of Hanson is 27.
