Singer Brian McKnight 'excited' to celebrate Worcester Tercentennial with the Pops
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WORCESTER — There are very few things at this point that Brian McKnight hasn't done. But it's probably safe to say that being the featured performer for a city's Tercentennial celebration is a new experience for the R&B singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist.
McKnight will perform with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra at the DCU Center at 4 p.m. June 12 in a free show as part of the city of Worcester's Tercentennial Weekend happenings. Damon Gupton will conduct the orchestra. Gupton is principal guest conductor of the Cincinnati Pops and an accomplished composer, narrator and actor.
"I'm pretty excited. It's pretty amazing," McKnight said during a recent telephone interview.
"My wife and I were in Boston a couple of years ago looking at some of the history. That's pretty amazing," he recalled. Some of that history went back 300 years or more.
"To think that I'm coming to celebrate 300 years, that's even more amazing."
Something else he hasn't done before is perform with the Boston Pops. "I've done some shows with orchestras around the country," he said.
McKnight also hasn't worked with Gupton before.
Partly for those reasons, McKnight said they were "still figuring out the actual set list" for the June 12 show. There were still over two and a half weeks to go at the time of the interview.
"These will definitely be my songs," McKnight said. "The question is which ones and how many."
Compelling voice
With a trademark falsetto and soaring vocal range, McKnight can make every song he sings compelling.
McKnight, who will be 53 on June 5, was born in Buffalo, New York, and as a child sang in his church choir, which was directed by his grandfather. He was a bandleader for his high school and formed a band and began performing his original songs at local venues. His older brother Claude McKnight III and his band Take 6 signed a record deal with Warner Brothers in 1990.
This encouraged McKnight to shop his own demo tapes and by the age of 19 he signed his first recording deal with Mercury Records. In 1992, his self-titled album, “Brian McKnight,” was released followed by “I Remember You” (1995) and “Anytime” (1997). “Anytime” sold over two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy.
Along with several Grammy nominations, McKnight has been the recipient of American Music Awards, Soul Train Awards, NAACP Image and Blockbuster Awards, and Billboard Songwriter of The Year. He's hosted TV and radio shows, and in 2007 he stepped into Broadway with a successful run as Billy Flynn in the musical "Chicago."
In 2020 the release of his studio album "Exodus" came with McKnight's announcement that this would be his last album of original material.
However, last October he released a single, "Faithfully," a heartfelt tribute to his wife, Dr. Leilani Malia Mendoza. The song was written by McKnight and produced by Earl Cohen, Andrew Thomas and Claude Villani.
Pleased with results
McKnight has said one of his challenges as a singer is to "travel the line between what’s currently out there musically and what we used to do. You can’t go too far to the young side. You can’t stay completely on the R&B side. That’s the constant struggle for me as a guy who’s still writing and producing.”
But with "Faithfully," he said, he was pleased with the results. "That was the two working together in the best possible way," he said.
So does that give us to hope that we might not have seen his last album after all?
"No," came the reply, perfectly good-naturedly.
He said he'll still release songs, "a single at a time. It pretty much makes sense. Every album has a certain amount of singles, but I don't think I'll do an entire album anymore."
Would he do a musical on stage again?
"I've thought about theater," McKnight said. But if he were to do another show he would want to be involved with the project from different angles. "Not just being Billy Flynn," he said.
As for singing live, McKnight noted that the pandemic "shut everyone down pretty much."
When the pandemic started, "it was kind of great to take some time off," he acknowledged.
"I miss performing in the sense that the audience and the artists themselves were taking it for granted. When that was taken away there's a greater appreciation now than in a long time."
He started going back on the road late last year and is now averaging about four or five shows a month.
"I don't enjoy the travel," he said. "But I do enjoy it once the show begins."
Worcester Tercentennial Celebration: Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra conducted by Damon Gupton, featuring Brian McKnight
When: 4 p.m. June 12
Where: DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester
How much: Free. DCU box office (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; and Sunday/Monday on event days only), or online free of charge with no fees at Ticketmaster, ticketmaster.com/event/01005C7BD8C66B9D
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Singer Brian McKnight excited to celebrate Worcester Tercentennial with the Pops
