Pipobit: William Guest

William Guest, one of The Pips, as in Gladys Knight And The..., has died.

Guest was a Pip from 1953 through to 1989, appearing on all the Gladys Knight tracks across that time - yes, this, especially:


William was Gladys' cousin; a second cousin, Eleanor, was originally with the band but left to get married.

Post-pipping, William became a CEO of the Crew Records, in partnership with fellow pip Edward Patten.

Guest died on Christmas Eve, from congestive heart failure. He was 74.

A lot of good work for charidee

Let's just preempt the comments box and say: Yes, we know Annie Lennox's Band Aid style single is in a good cause and, yes, it will raise a bit of money.

However, wouldn't it be better all round if Shakira, Joss Stone, Dido, Celine Dion, Pink, Fergie, Gladys Knight, Bonnie Raitt, Melissa Etheridge, KT Tunstall and Madonna all released a proper single - one that they might have released anyway - and gave the money from that to Nelson Mandela's 46664 Aids charity instead? Wouldn't that raise more money and, indeed, mean that the artists involved could feel a sense of actually contributing to the cause by redirecting some of their royalties, rather than just spending an hour or so making a record that nobody would really want for its own merits?