Q: In what ways did singing in the church choir influence you as a musician?īM: Singing in church gives you the confidence to get up and sing everything. When I got to kindergarten, I was shocked when I realized that not everybody could sing. Basically, our family was our choir in church, my grandfather being the minister of music. My mother’s family had been singers, and my children are the fifth generation in my family to sing in the church choir. Growing up in New York, how and when did music make its way into your life?īrian McKnight: Well, we grew up singing in church. Fans, rest assured: Brian McKnight’s passion for spreading his music around the globe isn’t ending any time soon. But the philanthropic singer has no plans to keep it all in the family he also runs the McKnight 360 Foundation, founded in 2012 and aimed at bolstering arts programs for children at schools nationwide. Today, the celebrated McKnight is focused on supporting the next generation of prodigious musicians in his family-his own sons, whom he refers to as two of the most talented people he knows. His family’s musical history is perhaps why the artist remains refreshingly humble, despite having won a litany of prestigious awards, including American Music Awards, Soul Train Awards and Billboard Songwriter of the Year.

McKnight was raised by a family of classically trained pianists and church choir singers with his brother signing a record deal at age 18. And yet, the artist still works toward becoming a better musician: “I need to work, ” McKnight says, “to prove to that I’m here for a reason.” He’s an unstoppably consistent force in the music industry and he’s toured successfully for over a decade, continuing to tour through 2016. McKnight signed his first record deal at age 19 and has since sold over 25 million albums worldwide. 29, 2016, Brian McKnight’s 16 th studio album, Better, will hit shelves-a name that harks back to McKnight’s extensive career. Written By: Elizabeth Nutt Getting Real with Brian McKnightĬredentials: R&B singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and 16-time Grammy Award nominee. The R&B Crooner Talks Music, Family and Getting Back in the Studio

Brian mcknight zip