Brian McKnight Fathered 14-Year-Old, Owes $341,640

It appears that the singer Brian McKnight is now a not-so-proud father. Well, the child isn't exactly a baby either. According to TMZ, the child is a 14-year old that Brian hasn't exactly claimed to be his own. Well, whether McKnight chooses to address the child as his own or not, a Florida judge has ruled that Brian must now take financial responsibility for the child. The amount owed? $341,640, which comes out to just over $2,000 per month for every month since the child was born.

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Prince Through The Years

'My Name Is Prince'
In 1984, the Minneapolis-based rock & soul superstar known as Prince made a striking film debut in the Warner Bros. movie 'Purple Rain.' Loosely based on the 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' singer's rise to fame, the Albert Magnoli-helmed film has had an everlasting effect on music and movie lovers alike. In celebration of 'Purple Rain's 25th anniversary, BlackVoices.com pays homage to the man behind the genius throughout the years.

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BlackVoices.com

Prince Through The Years

Purple Reign
Not only did the soundtrack to the film 'Purple Rain' spend 24 weeks atop the charts, but it also earned Prince an Academy Award for best original score. 'Purple Rain' sold more than 13 million copies and was the first project Prince recorded with his longtime band, the Revolution. The title track took home the 1985 Grammy for best group rock vocal; other hit singles included 'When Doves Cry,' 'I Would Die 4 U,' and 'Let's Go Crazy.' The landmark album made Prince a household name.

Prince Through The Years

'Pop Life'
Prince Rogers Nelson, the son of a jazz singer and a pianist songwriter, was born and raised in Minneapolis. Prince taught himself how to play piano, guitar and drums - all before the age of 14. He released his debut, 'For You,' in 1978, but it wasn't until 1980 that this eclectic singer-songwriter began making a name for himself with his second release, 'Dirty Mind.' The sexually explicit material included a very suggestive track about oral sex called 'Head.'

Prince Through The Years

'Sign O' the Times'
For two shows at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Prince found himself in the lucky position of opening up for the Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, his style choices got the young singer booed off the stage. Nevertheless, his 'Controversy' album (released later that year), coupled with his side projects with the funk band The Time, fueled the singer's popularity both stateside in addition to internationally.

Prince Through The Years

'Money Don't Matter Tonight'
Prince has never been an artist consumed by celebrity or making money. At the height of his fame, he still managed to incorporate socially conscious records with MTV-friendly videos like 'Little Red Corvette' and 'Delirious.' One song in particular, 'Sister,' broached the topic of incest. His 1982 double disc '1999' sold more than 3 million copies.

Prince Through The Years

'Get Off'
Early in his career, Prince opened for Rick James on the singer's 1981 tour. In his autobiography, 'The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Superfreak,' James charged that Prince copied his stage act and performed it before he could take the stage. Loyal fans say that Prince's performance, which included peeling off his stockings and throwing them at the audience before stripping down to his underwear while gyrating and stimulating oral sex, won the newcomer fans over the funk music legend.

Prince Through The Years

'Scandalous'
Prince has always had tons of band lineup changes, especially with females. On his first tour, he replaced his keyboardist, Gayle Chapman, with Lisa Coleman. His Revolution girls, Wendy and Lisa, were replaced by Sheila E, with whom he still tours. He then created the New Power Generation and hired new guitarist Levi Spencer. Mostly, though, he allowed his band members to give their input to whatever music he was working on at the time.

Prince Through The Years

'Under the Cherry Moon'
The panned romance movie 'Under the Cherry Moon' starred Prince as a gigolo named Chris who falls in love with an heiress. The 1986 film, which Prince also directed, was shot in Nice, France. Although the film bombed, the soundtrack yielded his hit song 'Kiss.'

Prince Through The Years

'Sexy M.F.'
Throughout his career, Prince has been a flamboyant, attention-grabbing singer, thanks in part to his on-stage outfits. This seven-time Grammy Award winner has never steered away from causing up a stir with his controversial clothes, which at one time included bottomless pants, high-heel shoes and black bikini briefs. Fans have come to expect the unexpected from Prince.

Prince Through The Years

'Adore'
Over the years, Prince has been fortunate to count some of today's biggest singers as fans, friends and collaborators. Not only did he write, produce and provide vocals for a majority of The Time's music, but he also helmed an album for Paisley Park signee Mavis Staple. Vanity 6 and Sheila E were among his protégés, and, at one point, both were members of his backing band. Prince was rumored to be romantically linked to several starlets, including Madonna, who enlisted the singer to write the single 'Love Song,' for her 'Like a Prayer' album. Prince managed to have an equally successful career penning songs for other big-name acts, such as Chaka Khan's 'I Feel for You' and Sinead O'Connor's 'Nothing Compares to You.' Khan, like Prince, was fed up with her label, Warner Bros., and reached out to Prince to help plan her departure. When she was freed from her contract, Khan agreed to let Prince helm her 'Come to My House' album, which was released through his NPG imprint.

Prince Through The Years

The mother of the child, Miriam Lee, took Brian McKnight to court to establish paternity last year. Why she waited so long to do so is not clear. From this point on, the singer is responsible for making child support payments in the amount of $11,388 per month. The ruling was a default judgment, since McKnight was not in court and didn't respond to the woman's claim of paternity.

A representative for McKnight had this to say: "The judgment in Florida was a default judgment made without Brian present. He's still looking to establish paternity, and is awaiting the results of a recent test."

The case of Brian McKnight brings out the all-too-present theme of men fathering children and then forgetting that they exist. If this is McKnight's child and he knew of the child's existence, then one can't excuse the fact that he was not in communication with the child or his mother. There is also the possibility that the mother never informed McKnight that the child was his, and one has to wonder why she waited 14-years to file for paternity.

Before we convict Brian McKnight of "Bad-Baby-Daddy-itis," let's consider all possibilities. According to the book, "Surviving the Breakup," by Joan Kelly, half of all mothers see no value in the child's continued interaction with the father. I am not here to say that this was the case with Brian McKnight, but I'd love to find out who decided that this child should spend the first 14 years of his life without his dad. Given that the mother only filed for paternity last year, one can only wonder if it was the money that suddenly made her realize that her son needed his father.

While father abandonment is prevalent in the black community, so is parental alienation, which doesn't get nearly as much attention. The media is quick to discuss fathers who leave their children, but they are almost never interested in how many dads out there did or would have wanted to be involved with their children if the mother had not decided that she'd created the baby all by herself. Both possibilities exist in the case of Brian McKnight, so we should wait to hear his side of the story.

In terms of our own lives, I encourage any mother who is tempted to keep her children away from their father to reconsider. Even if the father has a parenting style that differs from your own, the truth is that you both made the child together. While some parents may only see the father being good for a monthly check, the truth is that the child may need his father for reasons that go beyond the financial. Simultaneously, any man who creates a child must realize that without your guidance, your child is going to be lost. If you've got kids out there and you know they exist, at least do all you can to make yourself available. It is your responsibility to do so.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.