Niko McKnight, the estranged son of R&B crooner Brian McKnight, has died. He was 32 years previous.
Brian McKnight’s brother, Claude McKnight, revealed the tragic information on TikTok that his nephew Niko McKnight succumbed to most cancers two years after he was identified with the illness.
@claudemcknight I’m devastated at my nephews passing. For those who remark please do do in love, and NOT at what you will have heard concerning the relationship my brother had/has together with his children. Thanks 🙏🏾 #nephew #cancersucks #rip #love #household
♬ authentic sound – Claude Mcknight
Within the video clip, Claude McKnight mentioned, “I’m devastated at my nephews’ passing. For those who remark please do do in love, and NOT at what you will have heard concerning the relationship my brother had/has together with his children. Thanks.”
Niko McKnight revealed his most cancers analysis in January 2024 after being peppered with questions on his alarming weight reduction.
In the course of the three-minute TikTok video, Claude McKnight was driving whereas saying he was considering posting about his nephew’s demise “all day.”
“Because the day wore on I spotted, how may I not submit about this? This morning I came upon that my nephew Niko McNight handed away,” he mentioned.
“He’d been bravely battling most cancers for the final two years or so and have numerous emotions proper now… Niko was a kind of superb children who was quirky and curious and ridiculously proficient. Wonderful singer and superb guitar participant. Had an excellent eye as a photographer and simply a kind of children that not less than in my estimation of someone you at all times wished to be round and so it actually sucks that he’s not with us.”
Claude McKnight mentioned he seldom posts on social media however wished to handle Niko’s “legacy” and “how superb he was” as an alternative of how and when the “household drama” emanated.
“So right here’s the factor. I don’t know precisely what was occurring there. I do know what I’ve seen. I do know what I’ve heard from all events concerned and I strive to not choose,” he mentioned. “I simply attempt to be as loving to every individual as I will be as a result of apparently there’s a lot damage occurring — or was a lot damage occurring that numerous issues didn’t get resolved.”
Claude continued, saying that his nephew Niko’s battle together with his father “quite a bit consuming at him for an extended, lengthy, very long time.”
In a second of self-reflection, Brian McKnight’s brother admitted that “I’ll have contributed to what occurred with him. What I do know is he’s out of ache now. So I can rejoice in the truth that he not has to undergo chemo and the radiation and the whole lot else. I simply wish to uplift that younger man and say we’ll see him once more at some point. I like you Niko,” he concluded.
How the interfamilial strife started between Brian McKnight and his son he shared with ex-wife Julie McKnight stays a thriller. Niko McKnight was a singer, guitarist and photographer and had a number of stage performances alongside his brother as he and Brian Jr. promoted their group McKnight.
Later in life, Brian McKnight, 55, induced an uproar on social media when he characterised his oldest kids — he has seven whole, together with two stepchildren — as being merchandise “of sin” throughout an Instagram video submit.
He mentioned then that he’d at all times “been there for my kids each step of the best way till lately,” clarifying, “I’m not abandoning them. We’re estranged.”
Brian McKnight continued on, saying that “With the intention to dwell a life that you simply love, you must eliminate the evil and the negativity — even when that evil and negativity is expounded [to you].”
He has but to publicly handle his son’s passing.