Gladys Knight Shares Statement After Onstage Behavior Sparks Concern

The eternal soul legend Gladys Knight started her career in the late '50s, and she continues to tour regularly at the age of 82. In recent months, though there have been reports of her giving troubling performances, missing cues and wandering around the stage as if she's lost. It doesn't happen every night, and she seems firmly in control at many of her shows. But a recent Reddit thread raised concerns that Knight is "in cognitive decline," that she's being exploited by the people around her. In July, Gladys Knight played the Hollywood Bowl with fellow Motown veteran Smokey Robinson, and Billboard critic Paul Grein wrote, "She barely got through this show, and only by leaning heavily on her backup singers. Artists need to know when it’s time to bow out gracefully." Videos from recent concerts show Knight being led around the stage and sometimes standing aside to watch her backup singers take the lead parts. @tmz ? EXCLUSIVE: Gladys Knight's fans are deeply concerned she's being forced to perform shows after she looked totally out of it at multiple concerts, and now people working on her tour are calling it absolutely "tragic" ... TMZ has learned. ♬ original sound - TMZ In a social ...