Shy smile, greenish eyes, easy laughter... This is Jonathan Rashleigh Knight, former New Kids on the Block member, a hearthrob in the '80s and '90s. In fact, the NKOTB are the fathers of the hundreds of boybands which crowd the pop music nowadays. But Jonathan not only was a hearthrob; he still is, since many fans still chase after him! Those who have met him describe him as a shy, sweet, attentive and caring guy to the girls who travel all way up to his house in Massachussets just to take a pic or get an autograph.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN!!

Jonathan was born in Worcester, MA, on November 29th, 1968, in a low-middle-class family of the USA. He spent his childhood in a 10-bedroom house at 10 Melville Street - which now is owned by the Salvation Army and is called "Jubilee House" (thanks, Amy! =oD). His father was the preacher of the All Saints Episcopal Church, where Jon and his siblings sang in the choir, and his mom was a social worker. When Jon was 14-15 years old, his parents divorced and he and his siblings, even being so young, did what they could to help on the house budget - including dancing break on the streets and down in Boston's subway galleries. Those days were harsh and uncertain for the Knights, until his younger brother Jordan got a phone call from his friend Donnie Wahlberg and from then on, everything changed...

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Joseph McIntyre and Danny Wood were five boys from Boston who fell onto the graces of music producer Maurice Starr and became the fathers of the boybands, taking thousands of girls to hysteria. They spent three years on the road non-stop, roaming the world with their romantic ballads and making the five members of the band millionaires, as much as Michael Jackson and Madonna!

Jon was the shy member of the band, the one who worried most and the one who was more interested on what was going on, that is, he was always filled with what was happening with and to the group! 

"90% of the time when I think of Jon, I smile! - Donnie Wahlberg

But the boys grew up and became men with individual dreams and goals, making their own decisions about what to do with their lives! Jonathan was the first to call it quits and say goodbye to the NKOTB, which had a different style now, they were more like 'bad boys', and their last album, Face the Music, was, in my opinion, the best of all... The songs were not teen ballads anymore! But unfortunately, it didn't work and in '94, the group split up! Rumours had it that Jonathan was the one to blame... But is it true?!

They were all quite tired and they had their own, individual dreams to fulfill, they had separate ways... Danny had a child and a 'wife', Donnie had different interests, besides of child and wife as well, plus he thought himself too old to keep on in the group. Jordan and Joe wanted to go solo... But what about Jonathan Knight?! It's known that he cogitated on becoming an actor, or going back to school, or doing nothing with his life... But what is the true story?!

Oprah Show, March 1st, 2001! It was the moment of truth for the fans, they all learnt then what made Jon disappear from the spotlight in the middle of the FTM tour! Panic attacks... The fans already knew that Jonathan suffered from stage fright, but nobody knew it was so severe to the point of changing his life and making him give up on everything he had achieved so far...

"My life was so materialisc. Other people handled everything for me" - Jon said in a interview on People Magazine in November 2000, when talking about his life after New Kids On The Block.

"The whole NK thing was crazy, the more it grew, the more i felt like I was trapped. I just always had this feeling inside of me, of always being nervous and affraid of situations. The hardest thing for me was to do interviews, doing talkshows, photo sessions, being in the studio, just because you're being with so many people, you just get shaky, your heart starts pounding, dry
mouth like a little bit like i have now" - Jon Knight (Oprah Show - March / 2001)

Jon and Jordan suffer from this condition, but in different degrees. Jordan overcame his stage fright because performing is what he wants to do in life, it's his passion... After his time on the stage, with the NK split up, Jordan dedicated on writing music and singing in a piano bar in Boston (Diamond Jim's Piano Bar, at Lenox Hotel), but in order to overcome his fears, he took his disguises off little by little, as he himself said: first the cap, then the shades and finally, he saw himself asking the musicians to play a little faster!

But Jon secluded from the world. He spent three years at home and the only thing he wanted to do was sleeping, so to forget the world around him and his problems... He spent three years cast away in his farm in Massachussets, being in touch with his family and animals only! 

"From 1994 to 1997, I did nothing, I slept, slept, and slept. If I was awake I had to deal with things, do things, and to avoid that I just stayed in bed. You go through the whole thing thinking I'm weird, I'm strange and it makes your whole self shrink even more, it makes it worst." - Jon (Oprah)

"I guess the best way to explain it, is like someone jumping out on you, screaming.
Adrenaline goes through your whole body. You get all shaky, makes you really tired. When I have to deal with situations, I don't want to deal with I just go to bed or lie on the couch" - Jon (Oprah)

But one day, he realized it was enough and decided on searching for medical help; after all, he had all his life ahead of him... Facing the problem, Jon started a real estate business with two friends in Boston and is finally doing something he likes and feels good and comfortable doing: he buys, sells and renovates houses and condos.

"I can finally stand on my own two feet" - Jon  said referring to his new profession. (People, Nov/2000)

" Sometimes, when the two of us are working in a house, I'll put on one of his New Kids CDs and blast it" - Jim Cullity, one of his partners said - "He just laughs along with the words,"  but he adds, " He'll do somthing later to get it back at me."  (People - Nov/2000)