To really understand the phenomenon of white music artists singing R&B
, you should begin with an examination of the motivation and purpose behind the establishment of black music divisions at record companies in the 60s. While the success of Motown as a black owned operation has been well-documented and highly publicized, many of the competing record labels of that time lacked the personnel to adequately exploit the abundance of musically talented black teens.

With slumping record sales and a gluttony of music acts that were signed to perform disco songs, the R&B music
 community returned to its soulful roots and searched desperately for an answer to rectify the problems that plagued it. The answer wasn’t written on the wall, but it was found in the album “Off The Wall” by Michael Jackson, which helped to transition successful R&B music back into a more “Pop-friendly” format that was comparable to R&B in its last heyday of the Motown era.

An article about Brian McKnight

One of the most talented musicians and vocalists in the world of pop and r & b is Brian McKnight.  Born in Buffalo, New York in 1969, he immersed himself in music as a young boy, singing in the church choir and taking part in a band at High School. He is a versatile instrumentalist, playing guitar, drums, piano, trombone, tuba, French horn and trumpet. Vocally adept, he has an impressive four-octave range and very often sings falsetto. McKnight grew up listening to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. He has an interest in different musical genres including jazz.

Full article about Brian McKnight

Ciara was born in Austin, Texas. She grew up in army bases in Germany, New York, California, Arizona and Nevada, since her father was in the United States Army.

Ciara has said that it was seeing a televised performance by Destiny’s Child while staying home from school one day that inspired her to pursue a career in music. In her early teens she formed the goal to become a professional singer. She once was a cheerleader for her North Clayton High School team, until she quit. She then joined a girl group called Hearsay, worked on her songwriting, eventually left the group, got a publishing deal, and found a “musical soulmate” when she met producer Jazze Pha.