Legendary gospel singer MARIE KNIGHT has died, aged 84.
She passed away after suffering a severe bout of pneumonia at a nursing home in Harlem, New York, according to her manager.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Knight started her singing career touring with Evangelist Frances Robinson, before teaming up with pioneering gospel songwriter Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who influenced Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin.
The pair sang on hits Didn’t It Rain, Beams Of Heaven and Up Above My Head and became popular gospel stars throughout the 1940s.
Knight slowed down her career after Tharpe’s death in 1973, but started a comeback in 2002, and later released her first full album in over 25 years, Let Us Get Together, in 2007.