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Nikolas McKnight, the estranged on of singer Brian McKnight, has died after he lost his battle with cancer.
On Thursday, May 29, Niko's uncle, Claude McKnight, confirmed the singer's passing in a video he posted to TikTok. In it, Claude revealed his nephew died after he spent the past two years battling colon cancer. He was only 32.
“Niko was one of those amazing kids quirky, and curious and ridiculously talented. Amazing singer, amazing guitar player. Had a great eye as a photographer. And one of those kids, at least in my estimation, that you always wanted to be around,” Claude said.
“I wanted to post this about Niko, about his legacy, about how amazing he is, not about what some of you may have heard about family drama that has existed for quite some time, in our family,” he added. “I don’t know exactly what was going on there, I know what I’ve seen. I know what I’ve heard from all parties involved…a lot of things didn’t get resolved.”
Niko McKnight is one of Brian McKnight's two sons from his previous marriage to singer-songwriter Julie McKnight. McKnight also has a daughter, Briana, and another son, Clyde, from a previous relationship. After he split from his ex in 2003, Brian McKnight got married to his current wife, Leilani, in 2017. Leilani was pregnant with the couple's first son, Kekoa Matteo, who died in infancy in 2022. They welcomed their newborn son, Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr, in January 2023. Brian also claims Leilani's two children, Julia and Jack, from her previous relationship.
Brian McKnight's relationship with Niko and Brian McKnight, Jr. was rocky to say the least. The family drama began in 2019 after McKnight called his eldest children "entitled" in a video. In 2023, McKnight received plenty of backlash after he legally named his name to Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr., even though he was already a senior to Brian McKnight, Jr. Since then, he has publicly disassociated from his four biological children and claimed they were "a product of sin."
As of this report, Brian McKnight has not commented on Niko's death.