Gladys Knight: Is the ‘Masked Singer’ Contestant the Bee?

Gladys Knight delivered a powerful performance of the national anthem ahead of Super Bowl LIII, reminding fans that she might just be on Fox hit series The Masked Singer.

The music legend’s fans have been saying in recent weeks that her voice sounds fairly similar to the yet-unmasked competitor, The Bee.

The show features celebrities in elaborate costumes singing week-to-week to fight to stay in the competition. Every week, the live studio audience, along with judges Robin Thicke, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Scherzinger, vote out one of the contestants, who then must unmask and reveal themselves to viewers.

The Bee, who first dazzled viewers with an emotional performance of Sia’s “Chandelier,” has had fans thinking for a while that Knight might be under the mask.

In her first appearance, The Bee hinted at her career as a professional musician saying, “coming onto this show, I’m looking forward to singing to a new generation.”

She also hinted during her first appearance that she had been singing since the 1950s and everyone can call her “Queen Bee,” though “Empress also suits me.”

Knight began her career in 1952 and is known amongst her fans as the “Empress of Soul.”

In her next appearance, The Bee gave more hints for her identity that left the judges panel also guessing Knight might be under the elaborate mask. A montage before her Jan. 23 performance showed Georgia peach imagery combined with her comments about not “always on what’s happening in the world today musically.”

She threw the judges a curve ball, however, when her final clue of the episode said that they should “take [her] to court.”

Ahead of her Super Bowl national anthem performance, Knight spoke out about choosing to perform before the big game despite the Colin Kaepernick controversy.

“I understand that Mr. Kaepernick is protesting two things, and they are police violence and injustice,” Knight wrote in a statement to Variety on Thursday. “It is unfortunate that our National Anthem has been dragged into this debate when the distinctive senses of the National Anthem and fighting for justice should each stand alone.

“I am here today and on Sunday, Feb. 3 to give the Anthem back its voice, to stand for that historic choice of words, the way it unites us when we hear it and to free it from the same prejudices and struggles I have fought long and hard for all my life, from walking back hallways, from marching with our social leaders, from using my voice for good — I have been in the forefront of this battle longer than most of those voicing their opinions to win the right to sing our country’s Anthem on a stage as large as the Super Bowl LIII.

“No matter who chooses to deflect with this narrative and continue to mix these two in the same message, it is not so and cannot be made so by anyone speaking it. I pray that this National Anthem will bring us all together in a way never before witnessed and we can move forward and untangle these truths which mean so much to all of us.”

Do you think Knight might be hiding behind The Bee’s mask? The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.