South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
McKnight ‘impostor’ as writer in ’90s
For nearly three decades, Brian McKnight has been serenading swooning women with lush ballads and an impeccable falsetto.
But the “Back to One” singer was well into his
40s before he said he truly fell in love for the first time. In 2017, McKnight married Leilana Mendoza, a pediatric neurophysiologist whom he raves about frequently on social media and on concert stages.
“As a songwriter, I was an impostor” in the 1990s, said McKnight in a recent interview.
McKnight, now 53, said he was a “product of every piece of music I had ever heard. I learned to write music based on other music. I watched a lot of movies and listened to everything. I was able to put together a good rhyme and good chords. When I listen to those songs, they aren’t very deep.”
Not to say he doesn’t love his big R&B hits like “Anytime” or “One Last Cry.” He happily sings them at every concert.
But he said the music he has written since he met his wife explores love in a more meaningful way. (He was previously married to his college sweetheart for
13 years.)
“The new music talks about love being forever,” he said. “I couldn’t have done that earlier in my career. I had no idea what that felt like.”
His motives today for writing music are different from what they were when he was building his career. He said after writing and recording a series of R&B hits in the early 1990s such as “The Way Love Goes” and his Vanessa Williams duet “Love Is,” he felt the pressure to chase more radio hits.
“There’s a difference between writing something
for monetary gain and writing from the heart,” he said. “Once you have one hit, all you want is more hits. That’s how I did things the first 10 years.”
Then again, he knows getting another big radio hit at his age is not likely, noting that age discrimination remains alive and well when it comes to new music. “If you try to do the music the kids are doing now, they’ll call you out on it,” McKnight said. “They’ll tell you you’re too old, you’re a has-been.”
So his most recent single from 2021, the ballad “Faithfully,” has some modern elements but remains very much in McKnight’s wheelhouse.
“It’s as close as I could go without crossing that line production-wise,” he said. “It kind of sounds today, but it’s still my melodies.”
The pandemic has shifted his viewpoint on touring, which involves some solo work at places
where he can take requests and a full-band affair.
“I realize I don’t have to work as much,” McKnight said. “We used to do 150 shows a year. Now after 18 months off, I think we can be more selective. My wife and I want to do more things we want to do as opposed to things we have to do.”
Mendoza accompanies McKnight to all his concerts. “We’re together every second of the day,” he said. “It’s taken pressure off my life and my career.”
July 24 birthdays: Actor John Aniston is 89. Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 86. Actor Michael Richards is 73. Actor Lynda Carter is 71. Actor Kristin Chenoweth is 54. Actor Rick Fox is 53. Singer Jennifer Lopez is 53. Actor Elisabeth Moss is 40. Actor Anna Paquin is 40. Actor Mara Wilson is 35. TV personality Bindi Irwin is 24.