Brian McKnight - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile

Biography

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Brian McKnight (born June 5 1969 in Buffalo, New York)Brian McKnight's official website is a Grammy nominated American singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, specializing in pop and R&B. He is a multi-instrumentalist and can play nine instruments: piano, lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, french horn and trumpet.BRIAN MCKNIGHT On Fame, Family and Female Fans at FindArticles.com

Biography

McKnight's musical career was spurred by a musical childhood, in which he was a member of the church choir and a bandleader 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 Mase, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Mary J. Blige, Vanessa Williams, For Real, Mariah Carey, Regine Velasquez, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera and Quincy Jones.

McKnight has two children and is divorced. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Although rumors have spread of a possible pose for Playgirl magazine, after 9 years, this still has not yet materialized.

Vocal ability

Brian McKnight has mastered his voice like many others including Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Josh Groban, and Michael Jackson. 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 singer's.

Discography

Albums

Mercury releases

1991: Brian McKnight
1995: I Remember You
1997: Anytime

Motown releases

1998: Bethlehem (Christmas album)
1999: Back at One
2001: Superhero
2003: U-Turn
2005: Gemini

Warner Bros Records releases

2006: Ten

Singles

Mercury releases

1992: "The Way Love Goes" (R&B #11)
1992: "Goodbye My Love" (R&B #46)
1993: "One Last Cry" (US #13, R&B #8)
1993: "After the Love" (R&B #39)
1993: "Love Is" (Performed by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight) (US #3, R&B #55)
1995: "Crazy Love" (US #45, R&B #10)
1995: "On the Down Low" (US #73, R&B #12)
1995: "Still in Love" (R&B #24)
1997: "You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)" (US #17, R&B #4)
1998: "Anytime"
1998: "Hold Me" (US #35)
1998: "The Only One for Me"

Motown releases

1999: "Back at One" (US #2, R&B #7)
2000: "6, 8, 12" (R&B #48)
2000: "Stay or Let It Go" (US #76, R&B #26)
2000: "Win" (R&B #51)
2001: "Love of My Life" (US #51, R&B #11)
2001: "Still"
2002: "What's It Gonna Be" (US #91, R&B #48)
2003: "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda" (R&B #35)
2005: "What We Do Here" (R&B #35)
2005: "Everytime You Go Away" (R&B #36)

Warner Bros releases

2006: "Find Myself In You" (R&B #27)
2006: "Used To Be My Girl"

References

External links

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