Legacy of Brian McKnight
Artists and genres Brian McKnight directly influenced — one hop forward on the family tree of music.
NSYNCartist
98 Degreesartist
Mark WillsartistMark Wills is an American country music artist. Signed to Mercury Records between 1996 and 2003, he released five studio albums for the label – Mark Wills, Wish You Were Here, Permanently, Loving Every Minute, and And the Crowd Goes Wild – as well as a greatest hits package. In that same timespan, he charted sixteen singles on the Billboard country charts, all of which made the top 40. After leaving Mercury in 2003, he signed to Equity Music Group and charted three more singles. Two of these were later included on his sixth studio album, Familiar Stranger, which was released on the Tenacity label in 2008.
Dirty LoopsartistDirty Loops is a band from Stockholm, Sweden, made up of Jonah Nilsson, Henrik Linder and Aron Mellergård. Their arrangements borrow from jazz and jazz fusion, gospel, funk, electronica, pop, and disco. They are known for their jazz fusion reharmonized covers of pop songs like "Baby" by Justin Bieber, "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, ''Just Dance'' by Lady Gaga, and "Wake Me Up" by Avicii. They also performed the 2016 rendition of the song "Over the Horizon" for the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7Edge by Samsung Electronics.
Donnieartist
South Borderartist
RaisaartistRaisa Andriana, better known by her mononym Raisa, is an Indonesian singer and songwriter. She became publicly known for her song titled "Serba Salah". Before her solo career, she was one of the lead vocalists of Kevin Aprilio's band, Andante, which was later renamed Vierra.
Sterling Simmsartist
Donnie Klangartist
Javier ColonartistJavier Colon is an American singer-songwriter. He has referred to his style of music as being "acoustic soul". He was a member of EmcQ and The Derek Trucks Band, and worked with many musicians before going solo. From 2002 to 2006, he was signed to Capitol Records, known as artist Javier. In 2006, however, the contract was terminated and Javier Colon became an independent artist with his own label, Javier Colon Music. In 2011, he was the winner of season 1 of the American talent competition show on NBC, The Voice, receiving $100,000 and signing a recording contract with Universal Republic Records. Colon eventually decided to part ways with Universal Republic in 2012.
Jeanartist
Robin Thickeartist
Fly to the Skyartist
Vanessa Williamsartist
MaseartistMason Durell Betha, known professionally as Mase, is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 and quickly found mainstream recognition as Combs' hype man. He guest appeared on Combs' 1997 single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, while his first two singles as a lead artist, "Feel So Good" and "What You Want", both peaked within the chart's top ten. Released in October of that year, his debut studio album, Harlem World (1997), peaked atop the Billboard 200 chart, received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned his third top ten single as a lead artist, "Lookin' at Me". Furthermore, his guest performances on labelmate the Notorious B.I.G.'s single "Mo Money Mo Problems" and Combs' "Been Around the World" peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, that same year.
Gerald LevertartistGerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and producer. The son of singer Eddie Levert, he formed the R&B vocal group LeVert alongside his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon. He was also a member of the supergroup LSG, along with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. Levert is often credited with the discovery of R&B groups The Rude Boys, Men at Large, and 1 of the Girls. He released nine solo albums, and posthumously won a Grammy Award. In 2013, he was a part of the inaugural National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame inductees.
- Joeartist
Christopher Williamsartist
Boyz II Menartist
D'AngeloartistMichael Eugene Archer, better known by his stage name D'Angelo, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Widely regarded as a pioneer of the neo-soul movement, Billboard named him one of the greatest R&B artists, while Rolling Stone ranked him as one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2025, he was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Mariah Careyartist
Guy SebastianartistGuy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame after winning the first season of Australian Idol, in 2003. Born in Malaysia and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Sebastian has since released eleven top ten albums, including three achieving number one in Australia. Eight have gained either platinum or multi-platinum certification. He has also achieved twenty three top twenty singles, with fourteen of them, reaching the top ten, including six achieving number one in Australia. Sebastian is the only Australian male artist in Australian chart history to achieve six number one singles, and places third overall for all Australian acts. Twelve of his singles have been certified multi-platinum, including the 14× platinum "Battle Scars". His debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" was the highest selling song in Australia in the decade 2000 to 2009. With eighty-two platinum and seven gold certifications and combined album and single sales of over six million in Australia, Sebastian has the highest certifications and sales of any Australian Idol contestant.
Gino VannelliartistGino Vannelli is a Canadian rock/jazz/fusion/pop vocalist, producer, performer and Hall of Fame songwriter. Amongst his extensive catalogue of diverse, sophisticated and often complex albums blending musical genres, Gino had several commercially successful songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), "Living Inside Myself" (1981) and "Wild Horses" (1987). Gino is known for possessing a powerful, rich voice which is astonishingly well-preserved, his enthusiastic stage presence, and for the high caliber musicians with whom he chooses to employ/perform. Early on, he was known for his huge mane of dark curly hair and handsome features, yet he chose to spurn the sex symbol trope and the commercial pull in order to create the life and music that felt more authentic to him. https://www.musiclifemagazine.net/gino-vannelli-to-take-his-rightful-place-in-canadian-songwriters-hall-of-fame/
Bruno Marsartist