We could have come up with some great questions of our own for award-winning, top-selling R&B legend Brian McKnight. But sharing is caring, so for THIS INTERVIEW we used questions from friends and fans. Brian was happy to answer every one of them!
When did you know that you never felt that way about loving?
I think the answer to that question is when I met my wife.
Do you sing at weddings and if you do how much do you charge?
[Laughs] I don’t really sing at weddings! I don’t like being a stranger at something so personal to folks.
When you’re ready to set the mood what artist or group do you go to?
I can’t listen to music during that period of time because I’m a musician, and I need to have all my attention on what’s most important. So, music doesn’t factor into setting the mood.
You wrote “Let It Snow” and sang on it. Have you ever stopped it from snowing?
[Laughs] Not exactly!
Why are you so amazing?
I’m not sure that I am! I’m still working on being amazing. Maybe one day I’ll get there.
How have you adapted to the new age of R&B and what input do you have for young artists about where it’s going?
If you’re doing what the younger people are doing, people will just say you’re too old for that. They’ll say do what you always do. Everyone has an opinion, so you have to learn to block out the noise and just create music that you feel is great.
All I ever wanted to do was create music no matter what package it happened to be in.
The bright side of that is there’s a lot of the same thing going on out there. If you can figure out how to be an individual in world where everyone else is pretty much the same, then you’ll probably be the winner.
Even though you don’t ride anymore, how is being a motorcycle rider on the open road like being a songwriter with creative freedom?
You don’t know what lies ahead so you have to pay attention. You have to really be focused on what you’re doing. You cannot be distracted. It could mean the end of your life and, maybe, your career.
It’s constantly moving. The things around you are constantly moving, and there’s danger and peril at every turn if you’re not on top of your business. And it’s not just music, it’s the music business. Sometimes people forget about the fact that it’s a business.
What album are you most proud of?
All of them! There isn’t one that makes me prouder of it than the others. When I create music, I record it and leave it up to the fans to decide how they feel about it because I create music for them.
Is there anything about your career that you would redo?
Nope. Because I don’t have a time machine. So that question is irrelevant. [Laughs] |THIS.
[By M.J. Walker, Lhauren Singleton, Alexis Rosado, C.J. Plays, Nathan Moody, Arthur McLeod (RIP), Brian Clincy, Y’z Council, Cherece Hicks]
