Brian McKnight and his wife, Leilani Malia Mendoza have a blended family of seven; he has five biological children and two stepkids. Details explored.
Brian McKnight is a man of many hats. He is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host, and multi-instrumentalist.
An R&B performer, he is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range, and melisma.
McKnight has also been prominent in the African-American community and has been nominated for multiple NAACP Image Awards.
On October 2023, the singer was slammed online for changing his name to match his newborn son’s after he “ignored” his four oldest biological children.
If you have been a fan of the entertainer, you can attest to the fact that he has had an estranged relationship with his real kids and pays much attention to his stepchildren.
In this article, we take a look at his children; their mothers, and what happened between him and his biological children.
How many children does Brian McKnight have?
In total, Brian McKnight is a father of seven. He has five biological children and serves as a dad to his current spouse’s two children.
About his real kids; he has three sons and two daughters whose names are Niko McKnight, Brian McKnight Jr., Briana McKnight, Clyde McKnight, and Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr., according to Essence Magazine.
In case you want to know all of the singer’s seven kids’ names, they are Niko, Brian Jr., Briana, Clyde, Julia, Jack, and Kainoa Makoa Jr.
He shares his kids with three women; his first two with his ex-wife, Julie, and third with ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driver, the fourth with a mystery woman, and his fifth with Dr. Leilani Mendoza, his now wife.
McKnight was married in 1990 to singer-songwriter and his college sweetheart, Julie McKnight. The couple were married for 13 years and before they divorced in 2003, they had two children, Niko and Brian Jr., together.
McKnight also has a daughter, Briana, whom he fathered with his former partner, Patricia Driver, while married to Julie.
He again had another child, a son named Clyde from a previous relationship with an unknown woman.
In 2014, he began dating Dr. Leilani Malia Mendoza, a pediatric neurophysiologist, and they announced their engagement in May 2017 On December 29, 2017, McKnight and Mendoza were married.
McKnight and Mendoza had a son who died in infancy. In January 2023, McKnight and Mendoza had another son.
In October 2023, he took to his Instagram page to announce he had officially changed his name from Brian Kelly McKnight to Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. to match his last son’s name, Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr.
His post reads: “So proud to introduce our son. ?BRIAN KAINOA MAKOA JR. ? to the world with the release of my new album lovingly created for him. JR. because I am also proud to officially announce that I have legally changed my name to exactly match my legacy’s.”
He concluded: “My legal name is now BRIAN KAINOA MAKOA MCKNIGHT SR. “MCKNIGHTtime LULLABIES” the songs of a father to his namesake available now!”
McKnight and Mendoza would have had two children together but sadly, they lost their child whom they had named Kekoa Matteo before his due date, which Brian revealed in a heartbreaking Instagram post.
In the deeply upsetting post about the loss of Kekoa Matteo, McKnight wrote, “For the very first time in my life, I got to experience what it’s like to want to and plan to have a child made from love.” Yikes.
Before marrying McKnight, his medical practitioner spouse, Mendoza was already a mother of two. She had her kids from her previous relationships. Her other children’s names are Julia, Jack, and Kekoa Matteo.
Brian McKnight has been bashed for apparently giving preferential treatment to his stepchildren over his biological children.
According to Brian McKnight’s Instagram bio, he is a father to “Julia, Jack, Kekoa Matteo, and Brian Kanoa Makoa.”
What’s strange about all of this, none of the singer’s four biological children are acknowledged as his kids in the performer’s Instagram bio, but he writes about his stepchildren and newborn son as if fatherhood is a new adventure.
When he visited his stepdaughter Julia at the University of California, Santa Barbara, McKnight posted a video of her at the beach house where she lived with friends. “Julies, I became a girl dad because of YOU and I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter,” he captioned the video. That’s a lovely thing to say, except he already has a daughter.
Imagine being Briana and seeing the Instagram video of your father with his stepdaughter, where he also writes, “Here’s to you Jules, the perfect daughter I always wanted.” We’re also wondering what Brian Jr. thinks about his father naming the son he shares with Leilani Brian. That’s too many Brians.
What happened between Brian McKnight and his biological children?
In August 2019, McKnight posted a video addressing the accusations that he had abandoned his biological children. “Anyone who knows me know that for the last 30 years, I’ve been there for children every step of the way until recently,” said the singer. “And let’s be clear, my two sons are 30 and 27.” McKnight added that he never missed a child support payment, has never intentionally hurt them, and has always been there when they needed him.
At this point McKnight dips into a classic parental complaint which is that he spoiled them. That’s right, McKnight simply gave them too much. McKnight admitted to cutting off Brian Jr. and Niko at the ages of 25 and 22, respectively. He claimed that after they left his home, McKnight paid for an apartment for two years with the caveat that they had to get a job, which never happened.
McKnight revealed that after he met his now-wife, she tried to get jobs for his sons at the hospital where she is a doctor. Per McKnight, neither of them wanted to work there because of drug testing. McKnight maintains that he and his children are estranged and that they were not abandoned by him. Then a wild story comes down the pipeline.
“BJ [Brian Jr.] broke into our home a few months ago, and he put X’s on the eyes of our wedding photos,” McKnight revealed. He then placed a picture from McKnight’s first wedding on Leilani’s vanity. At this point, McKnight alleges he was made aware of social media posts by his son where he states McKnight was “better off dead to him.”
Things definitely take a turn when McKnight brings up his biological daughter and an alleged a physical relationship she was having with a much older cousin. When McKnight spoke with child protective services in Arizona where she lived with her mother, McKnight never heard back from them but was blocked on all social media by his daughters mother. He also claims she only wanted to have a child with him “for money.” He urges people to check his Instagram for receipts regarding his relationship with his biological children.
What is known about Brian McKnight’s family?
Entertainer, Brian McKnight was born on June 5, 1969, in Buffalo, New York, United States.
McKnight’s parents are Claude McKnight, Jr. (father) and Ruth Elaine Willis (mother).
He is not the only child of his parents. He has two siblings, a sister named Claude McKnight and a brother called Michael McKnight.
Music has always been a family thing for Brian. He was brought up as a Seventh-day Adventist, religion has played a central role for McKnight and his family.
He started singing as a child in church when he became a member of his church choir, which was directed by his grandfather.
His mother both sang in a gospel choir and played the piano at Emanuel Temple in Buffalo.
McKnight explored different genres of music, and in his early teens, he started musical ambitions by composing instrumental material while learning to play several instruments. McKnight formed a band and began performing his original songs at local venues. By the age of 18, he was offered a publishing deal.
McKnight has also been prominent in the African-American community and has been nominated for multiple NAACP Image Awards.