Song · Gladys Knight & The Pips
“Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & The Pips
Released 1979
“Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & The Pips appears on 12 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1979. Its best result is #13 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,066 indie & aaa song of all time and #48 of the '70s.
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"Midnight Train to Georgia" is the song Gladys Knight will always be known for. Jim Weatherly wrote it, and Gladys Knight & the Pips cut it for their 1973 LP Imagination, only their second release on Buddah after walking away from Motown. It gave the group their first trip to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
The story is a quiet heartbreaker: her man came to Los Angeles to be a star, it didn't happen, and now he's catching the late train home to Georgia, and she's decided she's going with him. Knight sings it with the plain, unshakable devotion of somebody who has already packed her bag. It won the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus in 1974, and in 2026 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1490 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 343 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 873 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 698 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 291 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2014 | 780 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2020 | 867 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 48 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2022 | 359 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2023 | 13 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2024 | 134 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs | 850 |
| 2026 | 173 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Midnight Train To Georgia.
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