Browse by Artist
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z #  





Ronald Isley Plots R. Kelly, Kanye West Collabs for Isley Brothers Album | Billboard.com
... Ronald Isley Plots R. Kelly, Kanye West Collabs for Isley Brothers Album | Billboard.com ... [ read more ]
Something Else! Featured Artist: The Isley Brothers
... Something Else! Featured Artist: The Isley Brothers ... [ read more ]
Marvin Isley, Bassist of Isley Bros. Dies
... Marvin Isley, Bassist of Isley Bros. Dies ... [ read more ]

The Isley Brothers

(1957-)
The Isley Brothers
Rudolph Isley (vocals) 1957-
Ronald Isley (vocals) 1957-
Kelly Isley (vocals) 1957-1986
Ernie Isley (bass, guitar) 1969-1984, 1990-
Marvin Isley (bass, percussion) 1969-1984, 1990-
Chris Jasper (keyboards) 1969-1984
Everett Collins (drums) 1969-

Artistfacts®:  You can leave comments about the artist/band at the bottom of the page.

When their father, O'Kelly Sr., met their mother, Sallye, he told her he would marry her and she would bear 4 sons who would become a famous singing group. They ended up having 6 sons.
Their father, O'Kelly Sr., predicted that his sons would hit it big but he would not be around to see it. He fulfilled his prophesy by dying of a heart attack in 1956.
They developed their sound and stage presence by singing in church.
The 4th Isley son, Vernon, died at 11 when he lost control of his bicycle and slammed into an oncoming truck. The other brothers were devastated and did not work on their music for a year.
They formed their own record label, T-neck (named after Teaneck, New Jersey, where they lived), in 1964, but put it aside to sign with Motown a year later. They left Motown after only a year and reformed the T-neck label in 1969.
Younger brothers Ernie and Marvin joined in 1969 along with their cousin, Chris Jasper. They became the rhythm section for the older Isleys.
In 1984, Ernie, Marvin, and Chris Jasper left to form Isley, Jasper, Isley.
Kelly Isley died of heart failure in 1986.
Ronald, who sings in a tenor, is lead singer.
Everett Collins, Drums and Percussion joined the band after he met Ernie, Chris and Marvin in music composition and band classes at college. He had his own band Sunrize in 1981-1983 which was produced by the Isley Brothers. (thanks, Ed - riverhead, NY)
21 year-old Jimi Hendrix, known then as Jimmy Hendricks, played on their stage shows in 1964.
Youngest brother Marvin lost his legs below the knees to diabetes in 1996.
They won a lawsuit from Michael Bolton in 1994 when his "Love Is A Wonderful Thing" was ruled too similar to the Isley's song of the same title. The Isley's were awarded all profits from the single and 28% of album profits.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Get Songfacts for The Isley Brothers

What band had a string of hits in the '70s, broke up in the '80s and reformed in the '90s, charging some of the highest ticket prices in history?
Get the answer in the Mighty Songfacts Trivia Quiz Archive, or take the Current Quiz.

Comments:

One of the longest lasting groups in history!!! From the early days of rock with "shout!", moving into the most awesome funky remake of all time. "Summer Breeze","Love the One Your With", plus thier own rocked out "Who's That Lady', which NEVER gets old to me. And who can forget the sexy transition they laid on soul in the 80's with hot tracks like "Between the Sheets" and my personal favorite "Living For the Love of You". And, HELLO??? Mr Ron Isley reinventing himself as MR BIGGS and ushering in a whole new wave of young fans thru R.Kelly and many samples used in countless hip hop songs. Thank you for the funk, Isley. Thanks to you, I will always POP THAT THANG
- Minna, Joplin, MO
Another act the Isleys produced for their T-Neck label was the Vandals, a sweet soul group who had three minor r&b hits in 1970. Group members included future Temptation Damon Harris and future post-Smokey Robinson Miracles member Billy Griffin.
- John, Nashville, TN
The Isley Brothers produced an album for Privilege, a psychedelic rock band featuring two members from the Soul Survivors (of "Expressway To Your Heart" fame), and future Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas. The self-titled album was released in 1969 on the Isleys own T-Neck label. The album is available as a cd import.
- John, Nashville, TN
I would just like to say that my mom loves ur music alot and i like some of it. Keep doing what u do.
- MeMe, Gallatin, TN
You have to to post comments.
Al Jourgensen of MinistryAl Jourgensen of Ministry
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
Randy HouserRandy Houser
The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.
Graham ParkerGraham Parker
When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.
Kristine WKristine W
Only Madonna, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson and Rihanna have more #1 Dance hits than Kristine.