Merald "Bubba" Knight Merald "Bubba" Knight Merald Woodlow "Bubba" Knight, Jr. (born September 4, 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American R&B/soul singer, best known as a member of Gladys Knight & the Pips. The older brother of lead singer Gladys Knight, Bubba Knight served as the unofficial leader of the group, and was instrumental in handling the Pips' business matters. Gladys Knight & The Pips evolved out of The Pips. The original Pips formed in Atlanta in 1952, with Gladys, Bubba, sister Brenda, plus cousins Elenor and William Guest singing supper club material during the week, and gospel music on Sundays. Bubba
A Trick of the Tail on an ARP 2500 synthesizer. Collins thought the group could carry on as an instrumental act, but other group members felt that it would be boring without vocals. The group had still not decided on a replacement singer, so they decided to start recording backing tracks and audition singers as they went. Some songs such as "Ripples..." were written with the intention that Collins could sing them, similar to "More Fool Me" on "Selling England by the Pound", but he did not want to take over as a permanent replacement, opting instead to teach potential lead singers the songs. The