After battling panic attacks, ex-New Kid
on the Block Jonathan Knight traded music for a real
estate career
Teen crushes die-hard.? Although it
has been a decade since Jonathan Knight's face first
graced pillowcases, T-shirts and bedroom walls as
one-fifth of the boy band New Kids on the Block,
Knight, 31, is still a heartthrob in demand.?
"Recently there were two 29-year-old girls from
Spain in my driveway screaming my name", he recalls
incredulously.? "Just today there were some girls in
a car with New Jersey license plates."
In fact, fan antics are one
reason Knight and his fellow New Kids (brother
Jordan, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and Joey
McIntyre) called it quits.? "Sometimes, back
then, it got real scary," he says.? "Especially
at airports - the most I got were some
scratches, but those crowds could get out of
control." Finally, after their Face the Music
tour wrapped in 1994, Knight wanted out.? "I
felt that we had done it long enough," he says.?
I was the first to jump ship.? The others were
angry at first, but they
understood." With brother Jordan, Knight
ultimately found refuge in rural Essex, Mass.,
on a 20-acre estate that includes a 14-bedroom
house and a stable. (Jordan has since relocated
to Milton, Mass.) Yet it wasn't until 1996, when
he launched his career as a real estate
developer, that he found professional
independence. Working to buy, sell and renovate
houses and condos, "I can finally
stand on my own two feet," he says. Although
Knight typically keeps mum about his
ex-teen-idol
status, "sometimes when we're at a closing the
lawyer or client will realize who he is, " says
Jim Cullity, 34, one of Knight's two partners in
a Boston real estate firm.? "They'll ask for his
autograph or posters, and Jon will always do
it."
In recent months Knight has
also been collaborating with architects to
design houses.? It is an interest he
developed growing up in Dorchester, Mass.,
the son of Marlene, 60, a former social
worker, and Allan, 63, a Episcopal priest
(the two divorced in 1984).? "I was always
doodling house sketches," says Knight, one
of six siblings.
Eventually, of course,
Knight's architectural fantasies gave
way to pursuit of his musical abilities,
which he honed by singing in his
father's church choir.? In 1984 he and
Jordan joined a vocal group being
recruited by producer Maurice Starr, and
Knight soon found himself touring the
world - and inciting preteen hysteria
wherever he went. He describes his years
on the block as "more fun than unfun",
but admits he also battled frequent
panic attacks while touring. "We
performed in front of 30,000 people
every night", he recalls, "and I had
lots of anxiety attacks.? Those attacks
had a big impact on my determining to
leave the entertainment industry."
In the years since,
Knight has remained resolutely out
of limelight, even as Jordan, now
30, has continued to perform as a
solo artist. (Wahlberg, now 31, is
an actor who appeared in The Sixth
Sense; Wood, 31, is in music
production; and McIntyre, 27, is
also pursuing a solo singing
career.) Knight insists that he
doesn't miss his former fame.?
During the New Kids heyday, "my life
was so materialistic," he says.??
"Other people handled everything for
me."? Notes father Allan:? "He's
told me that when used to sing, he
wasn't that happy. His life was
hectic and crazy."
Donna Wright, a
talent manager for the
Backstreet Boys who has known
Knight since 1985, says that
these days "he's a lot calmer
and more focused.? He's still
the same person, but he's much
happier."
The now-grown Kid, who is single
and looking to relocate to
Boston ("I want to be around
people, not crickets"), says he
wouldn't rule out a reunion with
his former singing partners "for
old times' sake."
And he maintains a keen sense of
humor about his boy-band past.
"Sometimes, when the two of us
are working in a house, I'll put
on one of his New Kids CDs and
blast it," confesses Cullity.?
"He just laughs along with the
words." Of course, Cullity
notes, "he'll do something later
to get back at me."
|
|