Founding Member of Gladys Knight + The Pips Dies at 74

It's always sad to lose anyone at anytime, but during the holidays has got to be the worst.

On Christmas Eve, William Guest, founding member of Gladys Knight and the Pips, passed away due to congestive heart failure. The announcement was first made on Twitter by his daughter Monique. He was 74 years old.

William Guest with Gladys Knight and the other Pips, Merald "Bubba" Knight, Gladys' brother, and Edward Patten have more than 20 top 20 singles during the 1960s through the '80s. They recorded songs including "Midnight Train to Georgia," "Neither One of Us" and the list goes on and on.

The group was also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

William Guest was also a successful business man with a production company and served as CEO of Crew Records. Gladys Knight posted a photo of the group on her Instagram page and said, "We have lost many along the way, please take care of the journey home and I say thank you Lord for a long and wonderful ride."