Niko McKnight dead: Brian McKnight's estranged son dies age 32 after cancer diagnosis

Singer Brian McKnight's son Niko has sadly died at the age of 32, following his two year battle with stage four colon cancer.

The son of the singer was only 32 and news of his death was shared among fans via a TikTok video, posted by his uncle Claude McKnight. In the three minute recording, Claude was very quick to ask fans to only post comments out of love and not surrounding the `estranged relationship between his brother Brian and his nephew Niko.

News of Niko's tragic death was confirmed on Friday 30 May. Claude captioned the video saying: "I'm devastated at my nephews' passing. If you comment please do do in love, and NOT at what you may have heard about the relationship my brother had/has with his kids. Thank you."

Fans saw Claude struggling with the idea of posting about his nephew as he said: "As the day wore on I realized, how could I not post about this? This morning I found out that my nephew Niko McNight passed away."

He added: "He'd been bravely battling cancer for the last two years or so and have a lot of feelings right now... Niko was one of those amazing kids who was quirky and curious and ridiculously talented. Amazing singer and amazing guitar player."

Claude continued: "Had a great eye as a photographer and just one of those kids that at least in my estimation of somebody you always wanted to be around and so it really sucks that he's no longer with us."

Brian was estranged from Niko for some time which, according to Claude, has been widely spoken about.

Keen not to place too much emphasis on the tense relationship the pair had, Claude simply said: "So here's the thing. I don't know exactly what was going on there. I know what I've seen. I know what I've heard from all parties involved and I try not to judge."

He added: "I just try to be as loving to each person as I can be because apparently there's so much hurt going on — or was so much hurt going on that a lot of things didn't get resolved."

Brian's relationship with his eldest children was not a smooth one. According to PEOPLE magazine, Brian addressed speculation of his estranged relationship with his children in 2019.

While they were younger, Niki and his siblings would accompany their father at events and were often seen out in public with him

But back in 2019 he explained that he felt he had "been there for my children every step of the way until recently."

He added: "I’m not abandoning them. We’re estranged."

Last April, Brian even went as far as to label his eldest children a "product of sin."

He reportedly said: "In order to live a life that you love, you have to get rid of the evil and the negativity — even if that evil and negativity is related [to you]."

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