Brian McKnight

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Brian McKnight

Background information
Birth name	Brian McKnight
Born	June 5, 1969
Origin	Buffalo, New York, United States
Genre(s)	R&B, Soul
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Producer
Instrument(s)	Vocalist, Piano, Guitar, Trumpet
Years active	1991– present
Label(s)	Mercury (1991–1997) Motown (1998–2005) Warner Bros. (2006–)
Website	Official site Official MySpace

Brian McKnight (born on June 5, 1969 in Buffalo, New York)^[1] is a Grammy-nominated American singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, pop and R&B musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who can play nine instruments: piano, lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, French horn and trumpet.^[2]

1 Biography
2 Vocal ability
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

McKnight's musical career began with a musical childhood, in which he was a member of the church choir and a band leader in high school at Sweet Home High School in Amherst, NY. Encouraged by his older brother Claude’s band Take 6 getting a record deal, McKnight sent out demo tapes and, at the age of 19, signed his first recording deal with Mercury Records. He released his first album, Brian McKnight, in 1992. He went on to release three more albums for Mercury records before moving to Motown Records. His final album with Mercury Records, Anytime sold over two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy.

In 1999, McKnight released Back at One (his second release from Motown; after the Christmas album Bethlehem) which sold over three million copies. Throughout his career he has collaborated with a variety of musicians including Ma$e, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mary J. Blige, Vanessa Williams, Kirk Franklin, For Real, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Shoshana Bean, St.Lunatics and Quincy Jones.

McKnight is divorced and has two sons and currently lives in Los Angeles, California.^[1] Though there are rumors a possible pose for Playgirl magazine, after 9 years, this still has not yet materialized.^{[citation needed]}

Brian currently hosts a radio show, The Brian McKnight Morning Show with Pat Prescott on KTWV The Wave in Los Angeles, CA.

[edit] Vocal ability

Brian McKnight has mastered his voice like many others including Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, and Michael Jackson.^{[citation needed]} Although it's never said that Brian took speech level singing or studied with Seth Riggs, he appears to have found a way to develop his mixed voice. He sings, like Vandross and many other artists, with no strain while going up into his higher notes (an example of which can be heard in "Back at One" when he sings "...into this lonely heart of mine...") The technique he uses to produce higher tones is not entirely falsetto; McKnight applies head voice with his falsetto so that it sounds stylistically different.

Brian McKnight has a four-octave range and is able to sustain his voice in higher registers. (The song "Love Of My Life" is entirely in falsetto and he hits an E5; which is beyond the range of most tenors.) The transition between his falsetto and head voice is also smoother than most singers.