Gladys Knight Sings Backup Vocals for Her Much Younger Husband William's New Song

Publish date: 2024-05-04

William McDowell has released the video of his new song "Country Water" featuring his wife Gladys Knight, who supplied backup vocals to the tune.

American singer and songwriter Gladys Knight is one of the country's most iconic musicians of all time and is known as the "Empress of Soul" for her sonorous voice.

However, the singer, who is known for taking the lead in her songs, took the backseat in her husband, William McDowell's new song, "Country Water."

Gladys Knight and William McDowell at Tyler Perry Studios' grand opening gala on October 05, 2019. | Photo: Getty Images

McDowell released the visuals for the song on June 13, 2021. The video featured him and his wife sitting outside. It also showed McDowell giving water jars to members of his community.

Knight helped her husband produce the video and sang backup vocals in the impressive tune, which focused on homegrown moonshine.

Gladys Knight at the Carousel of Hope Ball on October 6, 2018. | Photo: Getty Images

The song hints that McDowell is getting into the country music scene, and his famous wife is doing all to support him with her cameo in the song's chorus, adding a special vibe to it.

Sources told TMZ that the video was shot on Knight and McDowell's property in North Carolina and created during the pandemic. Sources also said Knight surprised her husband by getting it made.

McDowell expressed his desire to open a community center in North Carolina's Canton Community.

In the video's description, McDowell said he and Knight had fun shooting the video. He also said that all the folks from Carolina came together to drink some good old "Country Water."

McDowell, who is 14 years younger than Knight, 77, tied the knot in 2001. He is the fourth man she would marry in her lifetime, following earlier marriages to James Newman, Barry Hankerson, and motivational speaker Les Brown.

Knight has three children from her marriages to Newman and Hankerson. She and McDowell have 17 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren between them.

McDowell and Knight make a good team and have partnered to make several developmental changes in their community. The couple also runs an artist development company.

In 2017, McDowell expressed his desire to open a community center in North Carolina's Canton Community, where he was nurtured.

Earlier in the year, Knight and McDowell also led the COVID-19 drive in Haywood County in North Carolina after getting vaccinated. They encouraged other folks in the County also to do the same.

The couple is perfect for each other and is very happy together. That said, if McDowell decides to pursue a music career, there is no better person to show him the way than his famous wife.

ncG1vNJzZmimlazAb63MqKSapZFjsLC5jmttbm9gZnqouMCdsKxlm6O2qLTTZqqippeoeqOtwqSsqWWmpLCiuNJmn56qXaLCb7TTpqM%3D