kelly rowland soaks up gladys knight

KELLY Rowland has been hearing it for almost as long as she has been singing. “Always, when I meet somebody, they’re like, ‘Oh man, you look like a young Gladys Knight,’” she recounted. “Well, she’s lovely to me – a beautiful woman. So I definitely love the comparison.” And so apparently does Knight.

“It’s no secret that I love my @kellyrowland,” Knight posted on Instagram in October 2016. “So many people have said Kelly would be the perfect person to star in my biopic.”

So when Rowland was asked to portray Knight in

American Soul – a new BET drama about the evolution of Don Cornelius’ Soul Train – “I wondered if somebody was creeping through Gladys’ comments,” Rowland said. “I was beyond flattered because she had such an illustrious career and I just wanted to soak her up.”

Starting last year, Rowland poured over vintage YouTube clips to help capture Knight’s essence for

American Soul, which follows Cornelius as he hitches his wagon to her star in preparation for the show’s syndication on October 2, 1971.

The result is a groove down the Soul Train line as Rowland channels Knight, swaying in a glittering black evening gown alongside the fast-stepping Pips in I Heard It

Through the Grapevine; wrapped in gold knee-high gladiator sandals for Friendship Train, which the group performed on that first episode; and alone at a piano in a poignant rendition of Knight’s signature Midnight Train to Georgia.

Rowland’s own career rocketed in her teens alongside Beyoncé in Destiny’s Child, which in 1998 displayed its own co-ordinated outfits and synchronised moves on Soul

Train. And she has not left music behind: in November she released the self-love single Kelly as a teaser to a promised album, her first since Talk a Good Game in 2013.

In a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband, Tim Weatherspoon, a talent manager, and Titan, their 4-year-old son, Rowland, 37, spoke about channelling a legend and the politics of the Super Bowl. Q: Did you grow up watching Soul Train?

A: Oh, I absolutely did. Soul Train was one of my first memories of watching all these different beautiful black people dancing and having a good time. I remember watching so many different girl groups – was it En Vogue or SWV? – and them just making it look so fun. And I would emulate the dancers, whether it was pop locking or jumping from that one platform and landing in the splits. Q: How intimidating was it playing the Empress of Soul?

A: It wasn’t intimidating until I remembered watching one performance of her doing Midnight Train to Georgia.

And it was of course with the Pips, and they’re on a dark stage and she has a beautiful dress on, and it’s just so effortless. From all of her movements to the different inflections in her face, I sat there and just studied it for days. She’s an effortless voice, an effortless talent, and I think that’s what people have always loved about Gladys. Q: Did you try to mimic her voice?

A: There is only one Gladys Knight, and I completely love and respect her, and there is no voice in the world that sounds like hers. What I did do – because I wanted to have a little bit more rasp to my voice – I would take shots of whisky and I would scream really loudly to try to get it as scratchy as possible, or be around people who were smoking in a cloud of smoke and inhale. And all of that still didn’t work. (Laughs.) When I finally got a cold and my voice got raspy, I was like, “Oh my God, it’s so exciting!” Q: Knight has been getting blowback for her decision to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. You appeared as part of Beyoncé’s half-time show in 2013. Is performing at the Super Bowl a political act?

A: I think the interesting times that we’re in right now, in politics and opinions, make it very touchy. And I’ll keep my answer right there. Because it’s really unfortunate that we’re in this place where even having your opportunity… she probably wanted to do the national anthem her whole career, and here we are at a moment where you make one decision, and some people are excited and some people are really, really upset about it. (Sighs.) It really is a tough one. Q: Michelle Williams, your former Destiny’s Child collaborator, is playing Diana Ross in American Soul. Was there any competition about who could better recreate a diva?

A: When she told me she got the role, I was excited and couldn’t wait to see her performance. We just didn’t have that competition moment and we probably should have. Q: Any plans for another Destiny’s Child reunion?

A: Everybody is like, “Oh my God, when’s it going to be…”. Our kids have play dates and we hang out for girls’ nights, but it hasn’t been anything that we’ve talked about. And… yeah! |