Ladies (and Gentlemen), Fans and Friends, You spoke and I listened...I am very proud and excited to tell you that Jordan Knight Live & Unfinished will be hitting hand picked cities across North America for an intimate evening of Music, Fun, and More! After the amazing NKOTBSB Arena Tour this past year, I feel truly blessed that I now have the time to get up close and personal with you, my fans, and sing these songs that mean so much to me! You've all played such a big part in making this album a success so I can't think of a better way of saying THANK YOU, than to give you what you have asked for - Jordan Knight: Live & Unfinished!
Now put on those dancing shoes, grab a friend, and lets spend the night together! #ahhhhf*ckyeah
Jordan Knight
Jordan Knight has been famous for more than half his life. He was all of 14 when he joined New Kids On the Block and by 18 he had become a household name and global heartthrob as the group’s preternaturally handsome lead singer. For ten years he traveled the world with the famed boy band. Then, in 1994, when the band split up, Knight went on to enjoy a successful solo career. As a solo artist he's achieved massive success on the dance, pop and AC charts, toured the world, has been nominated for MTV VMAs, appeared as a judge on American Juniors, a houseguest on The Surreal Life and also managed to find time to have a family and build a strong home life. In 2007 the New Kids reunited and Knight has been on the road again off and on ever since. Through all the ups and downs of a life in show business, Knight has managed to stay true to his innate sense of optimism. And now, as he prepares to release his first solo album in five years, Unfinished, the singer is feeling as giddy and excited about the future as he did when he was a teenager. “One of the reasons the album is titled Unfinished is I’ve been working on it for a year and a half,” he explains. “But it’s also about realizing that even when people countyou out, even when they say you’re finished, you’re not. As long as you’re alive, your life is never finished.You can always learn something new. You can always grow. You can always learn a new craft, a new art,you can always take what you do and breathe new life into it. It’s a hopeful message.”
Knight’s sense of optimism is an innate part of his character, but his business savvy has been earned thehard way through experience. “I’ve been in the music business a long time and what I’ve learned is thatthe only person who is going to watch your back is yourself,” Knight explains. “The person that’s going totake the best care of your project is yourself.” To that end, Knight isn’t taking any chances this timearound. He’s personally involved in every aspect of Unfinished, from writing and producing to partneringwith Marcus Siskind of Mass Appeal Entertainment to launch the record label, JK Music that will release it.“I’m trying to be a business man and a recording artists all at the same time,” Knight explains. Theentrepreneurial spirit runs deep in Knight, but at his core, he’s an artist, and his business plan for successbegins with great songs. “The songs have to be the driving force,” Knight explains. “And I know that Ihave collected some good songs for this album.”
He certainly has. The first single “Let’s Go Higher” is an infectious syncopated dance smash that feelsboth instantly familiar and truly innovative. “I had this cool track and I was looking for a writer to help mefinish the song,” Knight recalls. “I kept saying to myself, ‘Colby O’Donis, Colby O’Donis, Colby O’Donis.’”O’Donis, a young singer and songwriter who toured with the New Kids and made a name for himself bycollaborating with Lady Gaga on the vocals for “Just Dance.” Knight’s team called O’Donis and asked ifhe’d write something for Unfinished. “He said, ‘yeah I could do that for sure but I think I have a song thatJordan may like so I’m going to send that in the meantime,’” Knight recalls. “The song he sent was the firstsingle, ‘Let’s Go Higher.’”
The rest of the album came together with the same kind of casual ease: every time he found himself at acrossroads, Knight just looked to his instincts to guide him. “One More Night,” delivers a primal trancefeel but with the melancholic lyrical overtones of a classic ballad. “I wrote that track with Nasri Atweh(Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Vanessa Hudgens,)” the singer explains. “He kept saying that everything onthe radio has some hard element, that you’ve gotta have some kind of hip hop element. And then hestarted singing something pretty and I was like, no that’s what we need! You have to let go and let theflow and the emotion take you instead of always following trends because if you think too much with yourhead it’s not heartfelt.”
The album’s title track was another in what Knight describes as many “serendipitous” moments on thisrecord. He scheduled a writing session in Los Angeles with producer Mike Krompass (Nelly Furtado,Natasha Beddingfield, David Archuleta). As he was pulling into Krompass’ driveway he saw songwriterKasia Livingston (Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Pussycat Dolls) drive up as well. The two had workedtogether before (Livingston and Donnie Wahlberg wrote the New Kids’ 2008 tune “2 In The Morning”together) but he didn’t know she knew Krompass and he hadn’t anticipated getting to work with heragain. “The skies opened up,” he recalls. “I’m like oh my god I get to hang out with Kasia and write asong?” They were sitting around Krompass’ studio sketching out the song details. They ended up with amidtempo little chord progression, a nugget of an idea, really. “We were thinking we should use myfalsetto with a little bit of a yodel to make it a Jordan Knight signature song,” the singer recalls. “So wemessed around with some melodies and she said ‘Let me sleep on it.’ She came back the next day andsaid, ‘something happened and I think I nailed it.’ I listened once and said, ‘wow, yeah, you did nail it.’”Knight wrote his first Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit song “I’ll Be Your Everything” at the age of 17 for singerTommy Page. After selling over 80 million albums worldwide through the release of 6 group albums,Knight broke from NKOTB to embark on a successful solo career, which produced 4 Top 40 singles. Hiscritically acclaimed debut self‐titled album release in 1999 became RIAA certified gold and produced theBillboard Top 10 single, “Give It To You,” which sold over a million copies and was nominated for BestDance Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. With the 2008 release of The Block, NKOTB’s returned tothe charts once again; the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and #2 on the overallTop 200 chart. The group promoted their new release through a sold‐out, 48‐city worldwide tour andfollowing the release of “Unfinished” on May 3rd, Knight will be returning to the road this summer withNKOTB for their highly anticipated co‐headlining 41‐city tour with the Backstreet Boys, which kicks off onJune 2nd in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Jordan Knight’s path, from boy band leader to solo artist and back again, has been long and storied. Andas he looks forward to the next few months and years, its clear that Knight has a lot on his plate, but hisapproach to it all can be summed up with three key words: “bring it on.” “Life is always blossoming,”Knight explains. “New opportunities and new horizons are always there if you are just open to them. Withthis album, I’m not trying to make a statement, I just want people to enjoy these songs. I want them tofeel each song, whether they dance to it or it makes them sad or it makes them feel energized or inspiredor hopeful or angry. This album is about bringing out the emotion.” Knight has the benefit of approachingthis release with his signature combination of youthful optimism and hard‐earned confidence. “A lot ofpeople record 150 songs for an album,” Knight muses. “That’s great for them, but I’m like, well, my albumhas twelve songs on it and I’ve recorded … twelve songs. I’m on point with this one.”For more information visit www.jordanknight.com or contact:
