Well, this is it, my final celebrity profile for 1999. And there's only one way we could possibly end this champagne year:
Well, this is it, my final celebrity profile for 1999. And there's only one way we could possibly end this champagne year:
When Brian McKnight's 1998 title track "Anytime" went double platinum and garnered 11 major award nominations including two Grammys (Pop and R&B Male Singer categories), an American Music Award, MTV Music Award, NAACP Image Award, and a Blockbuster Award, most people -- including McKnight himself -- thought he had hit the highest note of his career.
They were wrong.
Get out the noisemakers and party favors because we're in tune with one of the hottest names in music today.
McKnight In Shining Armor
"I got my first publishing deal when I was 18," McKnight tells me humbly.
His voice is soft as he describes the way he began his sensational singing-song-writing career.
He tells me that at the time, the best way he could promote his songs was to sing them on the demos himself. And he confides that in doing so, he inadvertently caught the attention of the record labels.
McKnight says, "All I ever wanted to do was to write. As I sent the demos out, the record companies and other publishing companies started asking, 'Well who is singing the demos? Does he want a record deal?'"
Now, 12 years later, McKnight's single "Back At One" is solidly ranked No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It's been there for 18 weeks and shows no signs of going any lower.
Love's Little Instruction Book
McKnight is genuinely surprised by the success of "Back At One."
He says, "It's funny because in the middle of (his hit single) "Anytime," I thought, 'Wow, this is as good as it's ever going to get.' Then when 'Back At One' comes out, I was like, 'Oh my God. I had no idea that it could be this.'"
"This" includes striking a major chord with women who just can't get enough of this guy with the voice of velvet gold and movie-star good looks.
But McKnight tells me that it's mainly the guys who write and tell him how much they like "Back At One."
"A lot of guys write to my Web site and say, 'You know, I wanted to tell my girlfriend or wife how I felt about her and I couldn't find the words so I wrote down the lyrics to your song and I gave it to her. And she cried.' Or, 'It's our song now and we played it at our wedding,'" McKnight says.
"That's it right there," McKnight says proudly.
But how did he come up with the idea for this smash hit?
McKnight laughs when he tells me, "People can't believe this is how it happened. But I built a new house and I was putting in the theater and I had the satellite guys there and I was thumbing through one of the manuals probably for one of the DVC players.
"And you know when there is a problem when you're putting together components they give you a trouble-shooting guide. You do step one, then two, then three. And if the problem persists, you redo steps one, two, and three. And I thought that it would be a great concept for a love song if I found the right concepts."
Well he found the right concepts. But instead of "attach gadget 'A' to thingamajig 'B'," McKnight instructs:
"One, you're a dream come true/Two, just want to be with you/Three, girl, it's plain to see that you're the only one for me/And four, repeat steps one through three/Five, make you fall in love with me/If ever I believe my work is done, then I start back at one."
Romantic, huh? And that's just the refrain.
Field of Dreams
And what's up with that compelling "Back At One" music video?
In the video, McKnight is on a commercial airplane taking a nose-dive into a cornfield. On the way down, he calls his wife on the airphone to say goodbye. As she picks up the phone, the plane crashes. She hears it all. In the closing shots, McKnight's "spirit" takes a journey back home to comfort her.
It's not for the faint at heart.
McKnight says, "I didn't want this song to be marred by a regular I-love-you kind of video, because if you listen to the song without the video it's a very happy song. However, people think that it's a very sad song because of the video . . . I didn't want something regular."
The video is anything but regular. In fact, it is so dramatic, that it had to be re-shot for airing outside the U.S. due to a recent series of plane crashes around the world.
But McKnight points out that the video does have a positive message.
He says, "My message for it wasn't so much the death, it was two-fold. One, you really wish that somebody loved you that much. And the other side was that you have to live everyday like you might not have tomorrow. You can't take anything for granted."
McKnight also tells me that although his songs carry serious themes, he is far from melancholy in his own life.
"I'm not as heavy as (people) might think. You know when you listen to the song and the content, you have a perception of how the person is. (People may think that I'm) very quiet and dejected and sad most of the time. I'm not."
Saving Private Brian
"I think the greatest thing that's happened with me -- and it was very difficult to see this part of it while I was in it -- is that nothing happened quickly (with my career). Everything was gradual. Everything was building up to now," McKnight says.
And with his career in perfect harmony, McKnight says that, although he doesn't take fame for granted, his personal life is very important to him.
McKnight is happily married and has two young boys, ages 7 and 10.
On fame, McKnight says, "At some point, it's gonna stop and you're going to wish that you still had it. So, I'm going enjoy it while I have it. Try my best to accommodate as many fans as I can, but also turn that off when I feel it's necessary to do that."
"You can't please everybody," McKnight says.
But then again, it looks like he already has.
McKnight will be performing live with Trisha Yearwood and others from Washington, D.C. on CBS' New Year's Eve special. Also watch for McKnight when he launches his next tour Feb. 2, in Cleveland, OH.
You could win: 
Contest runs Dec. 20, 1999 through Jan. 6, 2000. Winners will be selected at random. Winners will be notified by mail. (Contest Rules)
Good luck!
Note: "On The Set" appears every week in our Entertainment section. Have a question about your favorite celebrity? Let Steven know.
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