Her first taste of fame came when she was a mere seven years of age. It’s the kind of name that’s earned, not bestowed, and when the woman it describes is Gladys Knight, there’s no-one who it fits better.

You can keep your “King of Rock’n’Roll”, “Lord of the Dance”, and “Pop Princess”, is there a nickname in music that sounds as deliciously regal as “Empress of Soul”? I really don’t think there is.