Soul icon Gladys Knight to step back from performing after 'painful' concert footage emerges

Gladys Knight is taking a step back from performing as she now focuses on ‘transitioning into the next stage’ of her career and life.

The soul icon has been touring this year and footage previously went viral of her on stage as fans raised concerns.

Some found it ‘painful’ to watch and last year, her son, Shanga Hankerson, claimed touring was ‘detrimental’ to the 82-year-old’s health. His claims were however shut down by the music legend and her team.

Knight thanked fans on Instagram for their support over ‘this last three quarters of a century’ as she now plans to focus on family and projects with her husband, William McDowell.

She has three children from her past marriages and is believed to have 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

She took to Instagram last night (27 August) to announce: “After much soul searching, I’ve decided that I will be easing into fewer performances while focusing on transitioning into the next stage of my career and life moving forward.

“I’ll be spending more time on projects with my husband and visiting with my grandbabies and am looking forward to this new era.”

Known for tracks such as ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine’, ‘Licence to Kill’ and ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’, Knight’s statement continued: “I’d like to take a moment, in advance, to thank all my fans over this last three quarters of a century for making a little girl’s dream come true and supporting her every step of the way.

“I am immensely grateful to all of you and send my eternal love back to you. I hope to see your smiling faces out and about and on the road. God bless all of you and hope to see you soon.”

Knight’s career began with her family band The Pips, releasing their debut album in 1960 when she was 16 years old. She then began her solo career in the late 1970s and in 2010 was named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 100 best singers of all time.

In July, a video went viral of Knight performing with Smokey Robinson, raising concerns from fans about her wellbeing.

Some called it ‘painful’ as they questioned why she was performing as some begged ‘please let her rest’ and ‘let her enjoy her golden years’.

During The Queens Tour, when Knight performed alongside fellow icons Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle and Stephanie Mills, her son Hankerson expressed his concern.

He claimed to PEOPLE that the star’s busy touring schedule was ‘detrimental’ to her health.

Knight refuted the claims, telling PEOPLE at the time: “I’m sorry that my health and performances have been misrepresented.

“I’m healthy and happy and visiting friends and family these last few months.”

And her publicist, Laura Herlovich, added that the star was 'greatly saddened by Shanga’s unfounded allegations'. She also alleged that Hankerson 'has had no substantial contact' with the star.