Jordan Knight is still just a 'New Kid' at Heart

By Joe Leary

Knight back on tour with New Kids on the Block, recording solo album 'Unfinished'

Jordan Knight has returned to his musical roots; embarking on a new solo project, while reuniting his fellow New Kids on the Block band mates alongside fellow pop stars The Backstreet Boys for a series of dates that brings them to Rogers Arena July 9 and 10.

As the lead singer of the iconic 80s boy band tells me, our country will always hold special significance to him personally.

“Canada has been good to me my entire life; my parents are Canadian and I’m a dual citizen, so I’ve been coming up to Canada my entire life,” says Knight.

“I used to always come up in the summer to visit my grandparents and my cousins and uncles and aunts. Then, when the New Kids came along, we were a big hit in Canada and still to this day. Our reunion tour kicked off in Toronto and we’ve toured extensively up here through the years and we’re looking forward to getting back to Vancouver, which is probably one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been.

While hitting to road promoting an extensive group tour, Knight has also recently released a new single called, ‘Let’s Go Higher’.

“The initial response has been tremendous,” Knight tells me. “It’s an infectious song and not very hard to sell. When I go onstage or I’m out there promoting it, I can relax and just let the song speak for itself - it does all the work for me basically. People just want to hear it. It makes people feel good."

"I feel I’m constantly getting better and that’s one of the reasons why I’m naming my album, Unfinished. I always feel that your artistry and your life and even the relationships in your life are always unfinished and always growing. You can always learn new things and mature more.”

New Kids on the Block now and then

As for maturing alongside the other four members over the course of NKOTB’s ten year reign on the pop charts, the now 40 year old looks back upon reflection on how the overall group dynamic has endured and developed through the years.

“I think we’re all the same personalities and we all really fell into the same roles in the group. I guess we’re a little more mature now and that helps a whole lot. We’re just a little more patient with each other. You could say we’ve changed a lot or you could say we haven’t changed at all. I don’t really know; it kind of depends on the day.”

Himself a father, Jordan Knight acknowledges that while his offspring aren’t particularly high on following in their dad’s footsteps his earlier pop music career remains the subject of some degree of pride to his eldest son
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“My 11 year old sings pretty well and hits the notes right on key but just does it walking around the house. He’d rather be playing hockey or basketball,” he tells me.

“He’s still at the age where I’m pretty cool. When he turns 13 or 14, I’ll probably become very un-cool.”

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