Gladys Knight & the Pips company with members of Patten's family until his death from congestive heart failure in Detroit on December 24, 2015. Two years prior, Guest and his sister, Dame Dhyana Ziegler, PhD, released his autobiography, "Midnight Train FROM Georgia: A Pip's Journey" (Branden Books, Boston, MA, USA), about his life and career. In 2007, Bubba Knight and Guest, along with a third man, Neil Taffe (one of Gladys Knight's background singers), appeared in a commercial for Geico. In 1997, original Pips member Eleanor Guest died of heart failure. Langston George died on 19 March 2007 from congestive heart failure. Bubba Knight still
Backing vocalist who alternate, and sometimes sing in unison to highlight certain lyrics. In rap music, a background rapper who chants and rhymes to support the main artist is often referred to as hype man. Working as a backing singer can give a vocalist the onstage experience and vocal training they need to develop into a lead vocalist. A number of lead vocalists such as Ace Frehley, Richard Marx, Mariah Carey, Cher, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Sheryl Crow, Trisha Yearwood, Dave Grohl, Jerry Only, Jerry Cantrell, Jason Newsted, Dee Dee Ramone and Elton John, learned their craft as backing