Brian McKnight Wife: Who is Leilani Malia Mendoza?
Mia Horton
Published Feb 26, 2026
Dr Leilani Malia Mendoza is the wife of Brian McKnight an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
The couple began dating in 2014, and they announced their engagement in May 2017. McKnight and Mendoza married on December 29, 2017.
Leilani Malia Mendoza has two children from a previous relationship, Julia and Jack; McKnight and Mendoza had a son who died in infancy. McKnight and Mendoza welcomed their second child, Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight, in January 2023.
Dr. Leilani Malia Mendoza is a Filipino-Hawaiian Pediatric Neurophysiologist at UCLA. Leilani hinted she had since stepped away from her role in an Instagram post in honour of National Doctor’s Day 2021, as she reflected on how much she missed being in the operating room:
Brian reflected on how he had changed as a person since meeting Leilani on the Tamron Hall Show last year. “Everything about me, everything I think is the greatest me there has ever been, can be attributed to the fact that I found Leilani,” he said.
