Brian McKnight

Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. (born Brian Kelly McKnight; June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist.

An R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range, and melisma.

His first hit song, "Love Is" (with Vanessa Williams) was recorded for the Beverly Hills, 90210 soundtrack in 1993, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

McKnight's older brother, Claude V. McKnight III (and his band Take 6), signed a record deal with Warner Brothers subsidiary Reprise Records in 1987, releasing their self-titled debut in the Spring of 1988.

This encouraged McKnight to shop his own demo tapes, and by the age of 19 he signed his first recording deal with Mercury Records subsidiary, Wing Records.

That same year, his single "One Last Cry" peaked at number 13 on the chart and spawned from his eponymous debut studio album (1992), which was released by Mercury Records the year prior and received platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

His self-titled 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".

After the release of his self-titled 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", featured on the soundtrack to the film Jason's Lyric, released in late 1994, in which he produced it with D'Angelo.

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.

His next top 40 single, "You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)" (featuring Mase) was released in 1997 and preceded the release of his third album, Anytime (1997).

In 1997, McKnight recorded "Remember the Magic" for Walt Disney World's 25th anniversary.

The video for "Anytime", directed by Darren Grant, was nominated for Best Male Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards.

McKnight signed with Motown in 1998 and released a Christmas album, Bethlehem, the first of five albums he released on Motown.

In 1998, McKnight was a guest star on the show Sister Sister.

He appeared in multiple episodes, as Tia and Tamera's college professor.

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.

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, McKnight co-wrote the song "Wait" with Australian soul artist Guy Sebastian, which appeared on Sebastian's Beautiful Life album.

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.

His ninth album, Ten (2006) marked his final major label release.

His work has earned him 16 Grammy Award nominations, third only to Zubin Mehta and Snoop Dogg for the record of most Grammy nominations without a win.

McKnight was born in Buffalo, New York to Claude McKnight, Jr. and Ruth Elaine Willis.

His music experience began in childhood when he became a member of his church choir, which was directed by his grandfather.

McKnight explored different genres of music, and in his early teens he started musical ambitions by composing instrumental material while learning to play several instruments.

McKnight formed a band and began performing his original songs at local venues.

By the age of 18, he was offered a publishing deal.

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".

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, Texas.

In October 2007, McKnight made his Broadway debut in the show Chicago.

In January 2009, McKnight hosted "The Brian McKnight Show" on 98.7 KISS FM in New York City.

In 2009, McKnight appeared in the eighth season of Celebrity Apprentice.

Each celebrity played to raise money for the charity of his or her choice.

McKnight elected to play for Youthville USA.

Between September 2009 and May 2010, McKnight served as the media personality and hosted The Brian McKnight Show, a late night talk show billed as a combination of talk and variety which aired in syndication.