# Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight: 7 Highlights From Their Hollywood Bowl Show

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/smokey-robinson-and-gladys-knight-7-highlights-from-their-hollywood-bowl-show/
- Published: 2026-07-25T18:58:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-25T19:03:18+00:00
- Original publisher: Billboard
- Original article: https://www.billboard.com/lists/smokey-robinson-gladys-knight-2026-hollywood-bowl-recap/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film, Music

## Key points

- Robinson impressed with an energetic, charismatic set.
- Knight’s performance relied heavily on support singers.
- The two legends did not perform together.

## Summary

Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight opened their two-night “Just the Two of Us” run at the Hollywood Bowl on 24 July, offering a contrast between Robinson’s energetic, polished performance and Knight’s more limited set. The concert mattered as a rare appearance by two enduring Motown and R&B figures in their eighties, though the review found their current live capabilities markedly different.

- Robinson, 86, was praised for singing strongly, moving energetically and engaging the audience, including a Stevie Wonder impression before “The Tears of a Clown”.
- The review criticised Robinson’s lengthy audience-participation section during “Cruisin’”, particularly as songs such as “Shop Around” and “More Love” were omitted.
- Knight, 82, was said to retain flashes of her signature intensity but to rely heavily on backing singers, shortened arrangements and occasional lead vocals from them.
- Knight refreshed “The Nitty Gritty” by combining it with The Jacksons’ “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” and incorporated Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much” elsewhere.
- Her gospel section included Donnie McClurkin’s “Stand” and “Take Me to the King”, reflecting a strand of her career that has earned her recent Grammy awards.
- Despite the show’s title, Robinson and Knight did not perform together or sing the 1981 song “Just the Two of Us”.
- Both artists first reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 in 1961 and remain prominent members of their generation’s musical legacy.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.