Why Did Singer Brian McKnight Disown His Eldest Children? Find out the Disturbing Reason

Known in the 1990s and early 2000s as one of the most popular male R&B singers in the music industry, subsequent years have seen Brian McKnight more widely known for his well-publicized estrangement from his children from his first marriage.

From 1990 until 2003, Brian was married to his former wife, Julie McKnight, and together they had two sons, Brian McKnight Jr. and Niko McKnight, who passed away from cancer at 32 in May 2025. Brian also fathered a daughter, Briana McKnight, from a previous relationship following the end of his marriage.

There is a long history of bad blood between Brian and his eldest sons. However, things reached a disturbing fever pitch when the Grammy nominee married his now wife, Leilani McKnight.

Brian consistently took to social media to air his grievances with his sons, referring to them as “entitled,” “spoiled,” and “brainwashed” by their mother. As a result, he revealed that he wanted nothing to do with them. In 2019, he posted to social media once again, confirming that he cut his eldest children off — but in October 2023, he took things a step further.

At that time, he legally changed his name to match the name of the newborn son that he shared with Leilani so that he could have an “exact match,” despite already having a namesake in Brian McKnight Jr. He officially changed his name to Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr., and named his younger son Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Jr., per PEOPLE.

After the news of his father’s name change, Brian Jr. responded to the intentional dig by his father. “I’m not ashamed of the name my ancestors had,” he said at the time, per PEOPLE.

"All we can do is pray for that man, and my new little brother, who we will all welcome with open arms one day, once he realizes who his real family is. Legacy isn’t in the name. It’s in the character of the people. It will all be quite clear soon, just who’s on the right side of all this, because there’s no escaping what’s coming.”

In April 2024, Brian, while doing a live Q&A session on Instagram, left fans furious when he said that his eldest children were the “products of sin,” according to Page Six. He also stated that he no longer claims them because of it. “In order to live a life that you love, you have to get rid of the evil and the negativity — even if that evil and negativity is related [to you],” he said.

When a fan slammed Brian and pointed out that disowning your children is against God, he fired back with a shocking reply. “1. God wasn’t talking about children that are the product of sin, which these are. 2. I didn’t raise them, their mothers did. 3. Know the whole story before quoting the Bible 4. Take your inaccurate negativity off my page and try being happy,” he wrote.

Brian also legally adopted wife Leilani’s two older children and considers them and their son together as his only children.

Following the death of Niko on May 29, 2025, Brian claimed that he and his wife attempted to help Niko but claimed ex-wife Julie told him to stay away and that Niko didn’t want his help. Julie responded to Brian’s claims in a statement to Page Six, saying, “This is, once again, a response to bait myself and my family into his false narrative. He is a liar.”