Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist. An R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range, and melisma.

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Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. (born Brian Kelly McKnight; June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist. An R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range, and melisma.\n

McKnight was raised in Orlando, Florida, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career at the age of 19. He signed with Mercury Records to release his 1992 debut single, \"The Way Love Goes\", which preceded his debut album Brian McKnight (1992). A modest success, the album received platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned his first hit song, \"One Last Cry\", which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, he recorded the duet \"Love Is\" (with Vanessa Williams) for the Beverly Hills, 90210 soundtrack; the song peaked at number three on the chart. His 1997 single, \"You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)\" (featuring Mase) peaked within the chart's top 20 and led his third album, Anytime (1997)—his final release with Mercury before he signed with Motown. His 1999 single, \"Back at One\" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song; it preceded the album of the same name (1999), which was the first of four of his albums—Superhero (2001), U Turn (2003), and Gemini (2005)—to consecutively debut within the top ten of the Billboard 200. His ninth album, Ten (2006) marked his final major label release.\n

He has received 16 Grammy Award nominations, third only to Zubin Mehta and Snoop Dogg for having the most nominations for the award without a win.\n

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Early life

McKnight was born in Buffalo, New York to Claude McKnight, Jr. and Ruth Elaine Willis. His introduction to music was joining his church choir as a child; it was directed by his grandfather. Brian and his family moved to Orlando, Florida when he was about 10. His father worked for Martin Marietta. He began composing instrumental material while learning to play several instruments. \n

His brothers graduated from Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Florida and the family moved to Orange County, Florida. Brian McKnight then went to Maynard Evans High School in Orlando. McKnight formed a band and began performing original songs at local venues. By 18, he was offered a publishing deal and left for Los Angeles when he was about 19.\n

Career

Mercury Records: Brian McKnight and Anytime (1990–1997)

McKnight's older brother, Claude V. McKnight III (and Claude's band Take 6), signed a record deal with Warner Brothers subsidiary Reprise Records in 1987, releasing their first album in early 1988 and encouraging Brian to shop his own demo tapes. By the age of 19 he signed his first recording deal with a subsidiary of Mercury Records, Wing Records. His debut album Brian McKnight was released in 1992, and peaked at number 58 on the Billboard 200 chart. His first release was \"The Way Love Goes\", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album also featured the ballad and Top 20 single, \"One Last Cry\". It was followed by two more albums for Mercury, I Remember You (1995) and Anytime (1997). Anytime, McKnight's final album with Mercury, sold over two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy. The video for \"Anytime\", directed by Darren Grant, was nominated for Best Male Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. In 1997, McKnight recorded \"Remember the Magic\" for Walt Disney World's 25th anniversary. After the release of his debut album, McKnight was part of the group Black Men United alongside Gerald Levert, his then-labelmate Joe, Christopher Williams, Boyz II Men, and others for the song \"U Will Know\", appeared and co-produced (alongside D'Angelo) on the soundtrack to the 1994 film Jason's Lyric.\n

Motown Records: Bethlehem and Back at One (1998–2004)

McKnight signed with Motown in 1998 and released a Christmas album, Bethlehem, the first of five albums he released on Motown. In 1998, he was a guest star on the show Sister Sister. He appeared in multiple episodes, as Tia and Tamera's college professor. That same year, he recorded a duet with Mariah Carey on a song that named \"Whenever You Call\" that was released as a bonus track in Carey's #1's compilation. The duet is also featured in the 25th anniversary edition of Carey's Butterfly album.\n

In 1999, McKnight released Back at One, his most successful album to date, which eventually went on to sell over three million copies. Additionally, Back at One is one of four of McKnight's studio albums to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, reaching number 7 on October 9, 1999. In 2004, he co-wrote the song \"Wait\" with Australian soul artist Guy Sebastian, which appeared on Sebastian's Beautiful Life album.\n

Warner Brothers: Ten and performances (2005–2014)

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In early 2005, McKnight made a cameo appearance in Mariah Carey's \"It's Like That\" music video directed by Brett Ratner. In late 2005, McKnight signed with Warner Bros. Records and released the album Ten during December 2006. It was his only studio album with the label. Three singles were released from the album: \"Find Myself in You\" (which originally appeared on the soundtrack to the 2006 Tyler Perry movie Madea's Family Reunion), \"Used to Be My Girl\" and \"What's My Name\". In October 2007, McKnight made his Broadway debut in the show Chicago.\n

Between 2006 and 2010, McKnight hosted The Brian McKnight Morning Show, a radio show with Pat Prescott on KTWV The Wave in Los Angeles. The show was briefly simulcast on KHJZ-FM, Smooth Jazz 95.7 The Wave in Houston. In January 2009, McKnight hosted \"The Brian McKnight Show\" on 98.7 KISS-FM in New York City. In 2009, he appeared as a performer in the eighth season of The Celebrity Apprentice. Each celebrity played to raise money for the charity of his or her choice. He elected to play for Youthville USA. Between September 2009 and May 2010, he hosted The Brian McKnight Show, a late night talk show billed as a combination of talk and variety which aired in syndication. McKnight sang the national anthem for MLB Opening Day in Cincinnati, Ohio with his sons Brian, Jr. and Niko on March 31, 2011. He had sung the national anthem for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, Game 6 of the 2002 World Series in Anaheim, California (near his Los Angeles home), and the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Detroit. He has sung the anthem throughout his career at numerous places. He sang \"God Bless America\" in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series in San Francisco on October 22, 2012.\n

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On April 23, 2012, McKnight posted to YouTube \"If You're Ready To Learn\", which has been characterized by Billboard as a \"filthy jam\". Billboard selected this lyric from the song to quote: \"Let me show you how your __ works / Since you didn't bring it to me first.\" Other media outlets including MTV, the Toronto Sun, and NewMediaRockstars have written about McKnight's recent, more adult-oriented efforts. Soon after the single's release, McKnight and Funny or Die revealed that the single was a collaboration between the two. McKnight later explained that he wrote the parody as a commentary on the state of R&B, which he noted was in a period of degradation overall with famous radio station 98.7 Kiss FM shuttering and hit singles being inferior quality music, among other ailments.\n

Brian McKnight Music and Kobalt: Better (2015–2016)

On August 14, 2015, McKnight released the single \"Uh Oh Feeling\", the first track from his album Better. It was released on his own label, Brian McKnight Music LLC via Kobalt Label Services. Better was released on February 26, 2016 and the album received positive reviews.\n

SoNo Recording: An Evening with... and Genesis (2016–present)

On September 23, 2016 (twenty years from the date of his studio album Anytime), McKnight released his first live CD, DVD and Blu-ray collection entitled An Evening with Brian McKnight (in partnership with independent recording label, SoNo Recording Group, via Universal Music Group). The concert was recorded at the historic Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, California. The release includes fourteen songs performed live with his full band, plus three newly written and recorded songs. The first single, \"Everything\", was in the Top 20 on the national Adult Contemporary charts in September 2016. The CD version of the concert debuted on the Billboard R&B chart at No. 13, as a Hot Shot Debut. Also included is a duet with Gino Vannelli, on the song \"Brothers in the End\". The Blu-ray and DVD version of the release premiered on the Billboard Music DVD chart at number 9.\n

McKnight released the album Genesis on August 25, 2017. It featured three Top 30 Urban AC and AC hits: \"Everything\", \"Forever\" and \"I Want U\". Genesis premiered on the Nielsen SoundScan Top 10 Current R&B Albums and Top 20 Current Hip Hop/R&B Albums. The album was produced by Tim Kelley of the duo Tim & Bob. In January 2018, McKnight was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards. He was nominated for Outstanding Male Artist and Outstanding Album for Genesis (alongside Bruno Mars, Charlie Wilson, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z and Mary J Blige). In May 2018, McKnight announced that he was working on his next studio album tentatively titled Bedtime Story, which would be 60 minutes of music \"for the bedroom aka baby-making music\". In 2021, Brian McKnight competed on The Masked Singer spin-off The Masked Dancer as \"Cricket\".\n

Personal life

McKnight was married from 1990–2003 to singer-songwriter, Julie McKnight, and they have two sons. Brian also has a daughter he fathered from a previous relationship. He had been estranged from his son Niko for many years, dating back to the elder McKnight publicly referring to his oldest children—Niko and older brother Brian Jr.—as being \"products of sin\". On May 30, 2025, Niko died of cancer.\n

In 2014, Brian McKnight and Leilani Malia Mendoza, a pediatric neurophysiologist, began dating and they announced their engagement in May 2017. On December 29, 2017, McKnight and Mendoza were married. Mendoza has two children from a previous relationship. McKnight and Mendoza had a son who died in infancy. In December 2022, McKnight and Mendoza had another son, Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr. McKnight legally changed his name to Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. matching his son's name.\n

Religion

Brian McKnight grew up a Seventh-day Adventist. Religion was important in the McKnight family, with many generations being Seventh-day Adventists. His grandfather was a pastor of a church, and his mother played the piano and sang in a gospel choir in Emanuel Temple in Buffalo, New York. Being the youngest of four boys, McKnight became a member of an a cappella gospel quartet with his brothers. He also attended Oakwood College, a Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1987 to 1989. In his second year, he got into trouble for violating Oakwood's rules about dormitory visitors for having his girlfriend in his dorm room. They were both expelled.\n

Discography

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Studio albums\n

Brian McKnight (1992)
I Remember You (1995)
Anytime (1997)
Bethlehem (1998)
Back at One (1999)
Superhero (2001)
U Turn (2003)
Gemini (2005)
Ten (2006)
I'll Be Home for Christmas (2008)
Evolution of a Man (2009)
Just Me (2011)
More Than Words (2013)
Better (2016)
Genesis (2017)
Exodus (2020)

Filmography

Film

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Television

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Awards and nominations

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References

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External links

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Brian McKnight official website
Brian McKnight entertainment website
Brian McKnight's Biography from VH1
Brian McKnight's Profile from Vibe
Brian McKnight Fans website
Orlando Sentinel announcing his talk show, Blogs.OrlandoSentinel.com
Brian McKnight Just Me 2011 World Tour
Music.Yahoo.com interview
Announcement of Niko McKnight's death from Claude McKnight via Tiktok

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Brian McKnight

Broadcast History