Origins and initial recordings The Isley Brothers originally came from Cincinnati, Ohio, and were raised in the city's
Lincoln Heights suburb, settling in the satellite town of
Blue Ash when they were teenagers. Their father, O'Kelly Isley Sr., a former
United States Navy sailor and
vaudeville performer from
Durham, North Carolina, and their mother Sallye, from Georgia, guided the elder four Isley boys in their singing in church. The brothers began performing together in 1954, patterning themselves after groups such as
Billy Ward and His Dominoes and
The Dixie Hummingbirds. Eventually, they landed a spot on
Ted Mack's
Amateur Hour, where they won the competition (their prize was a watch). With Ronald singing lead vocals, the quartet soon began touring all over the
eastern US, performing in a variety of churches. When Vernon was eleven, he was killed by a car that struck him as he was riding his bike in his neighborhood. Devastated, the remaining trio disbanded. Eventually persuaded to regroup, the brothers decided to record popular music and left Cincinnati for New York in 1957 with their parents' blessings. The group got in touch with Richard Barrett, who soon had them in contact with a variety of New York record producers. They eventually had their first recorded songs produced by
George Goldner, including "Angels Cried" and "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon" for the Teenage, Cindy, and Mark X imprints. The songs were only regional hits, however. By 1959, the group had landed a recording deal with
RCA Victor. Later that year, the group recorded their first composition together, "
Shout", mixing their brand of gospel vocals and doo-wop harmonies, a song derived from a
Washington, D.C., club performance in which the brothers had covered
Jackie Wilson's "
Lonely Teardrops". The original version of the song peaked at number 47 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and never reached the R&B chart. Nevertheless, it sold over one million copies and was awarded a
gold disc by the
RIAA. Follow-up recordings on RCA Victor failed to chart and the brothers were dropped by the label in 1961 and were later signed by
Scepter Records. In 1962, the Isley Brothers scored their first top-40 hit with the
Bert Berns song "
Twist and Shout", which reached number 17 on the Hot 100 and number 2 on the R&B chart, staying on the charts for 19 weeks. The song had been produced by Berns for the brothers to teach then-struggling producer
Phil Spector how to produce a hit. Moving their entire operations to
New Jersey, the brothers continued to struggle with recordings, and formed
T-Neck Records in 1964. In February or March 1964, at the recommendation of a former associate of
Joe Tex, Ronnie Isley granted guitarist
Jimi Hendrix (who would later become famous as a solo artist) an audition that led to an offer to become the guitarist with the Isley Brothers' backing band, the I.B. Specials, which he readily accepted. In March, Hendrix recorded the two-part single "
Testify" with the Isley Brothers. Released in June, it failed to chart. Hendrix toured with the Isleys during much of 1964, but near the end of October, after growing tired of playing the same set every night, he left the band. (Soon afterward, Hendrix joined
Little Richard's touring band,
the Upsetters. In late July 1965 (or August 1965), Hendrix then briefly rejoined the Isley Brothers, recording a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed"; the single was recorded for and released by T-Neck and distributed by
Atlantic Records. Later that year, Hendrix joined a New York-based R&B band,
Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of a hotel where both men were staying, before eventually launching a successful solo career. After both songs failed to chart and Hendrix left the Isleys for good in 1965, the brothers signed with
Motown Records. Early the following year, the group released their second Top-40 hit single, "
This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)". While the Isley Brothers' recordings with Motown were more successful than their earlier works, they struggled to score a follow-up Top-40 hit with the label. They left Motown in 1968.
Major success Resurrecting their T-Neck label that year, the brothers signed a distribution deal with
Buddah Records and issued "
It's Your Thing" in February 1969. The song, which featured the first appearance of Ernie Isley on bass, became their biggest success to date, reaching number 2 on the Hot 100 and number 1 on the R&B chart. The song's parent album, ''
It's Our Thing'', reached number 22 on the
Pop LP chart, and "It's Your Thing" became the group's second million-seller and won them a Grammy Award. The release of "It's Your Thing" brought record label conflicts between the Isleys and Motown, as Motown argued that the group had recorded the song while still under their Motown contract. A 1975 court decision found in the Isleys' favor. In June 1969, the brothers independently recorded their concert at
Yankee Stadium which featured an array of artists. The live album
Live at Yankee Stadium was released later that year. They also filmed the concert which was released as a documentary titled
''It's Your Thing'' in theaters in August 1970. By 1971, the younger Isley brothers Ernie and Marvin and their brother-in-law Chris Jasper started to add to the band's music, first performing on the Isleys' ''
Givin' It Back. The album featured reinterpretations of rock songs mixing them with funk and gospel elements. The new members played an even bigger role in the 1972 album, Brother, Brother, Brother''. Both albums yielded Top 40 hits, including "
Love the One You're With" and "
Pop That Thang". By the end of their Buddah tenure in 1973, the brothers had signed a distribution deal with
Epic Records and made Ernie, Marvin, and Chris official members. In 1973, the Isleys released
3 + 3, which included the Top 10 hit single "
That Lady" and a UK Top 10 cover of "
Summer Breeze". Incorporating hard rock and folk-rock as well as funk and soulful balladry, the album became their breakthrough hit, eventually selling over two million copies. The following year, the album
Live It Up also reached platinum. In 1975, the brothers made one of their most successful recordings,
The Heat Is On, which featured the hits "
Fight the Power" and "
For the Love of You", and became their first album to reach number 1 on the Pop LP chart, going double-platinum at two million copies sold. The brothers would have more hit albums, including
Harvest for the World (1976),
Go for Your Guns (1977), and
Showdown (1978), all of which went platinum, and yielded several Top 40 pop and R&B singles and popular radio cuts. By 1979, with the release of
Winner Takes All, the brothers had incorporated disco and
quiet storm music into their work. The Isley Brothers' final album under their six-member lineup,
Between the Sheets (1983), sold more than two million copies. By then, financial struggles, creative difficulties, and other issues affected the group. Shortly after the success of
Between the Sheets, Ernie, Marvin, and Chris left the Isley Brothers and formed
Isley-Jasper-Isley. They later recorded the hit "
Caravan of Love".
Later years In 1985, the original Isleys trio of O'Kelly, Rudy, and Ronnie signed with
Warner Bros. Records and recorded and released the album
Masterpiece. Shortly a year after its release, Kelly Isley died from a heart attack while battling cancer, in March 1986. The remaining duo of Ron and Rudy released the
Angela Winbush-produced albums, ''
Smooth Sailin' in 1987 and Spend the Night'' in 1989. Shortly after the latter release, Rudy retired from the music industry and followed life in the
ministry. Ron put the group on a brief hiatus in 1990 while he recorded solo material. In 1991, Ron revived the group; Ernie Isley and brother Marvin returned to the fold. that year they released the album,
Tracks of Life. Five years later, Ron Isley gained popularity as video villain Frank Biggs (or Mr. Biggs) in the music video for
R. Kelly's hit "
Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)". The Isleys' 1996 release,
Mission to Please, became successful, producing three charting singles -- "Let's Lay Together", "Floatin' On Your Love" and "Tears", all of which charted on the
Billboard Hot 100 sixteen years after "Don't Say Goodnight" and made them just the third group in history to chart a hit single on the Hot 100 in four decades after
the Rolling Stones and
the Spinners. As a result, the album was certified platinum. That same year, Marvin Isley's career ended after a bout with diabetes forced him to have both of his legs amputated. Ron and Ernie have carried on as a duo from then on. In 2001, the duo released their best-selling album in years with the
Eternal album, which sold over two million copies and featured the top 20 hit single "
Contagious", making the Isley Brothers the first act to reach the Hot 100 (in fact, that chart's top 50) during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Two years later, the brothers'
Body Kiss album peaked at number-one on the
Billboard 200 album chart, becoming their second to reach the position and the first to do so since
The Heat Is On. Their next two released albums included 2006's ''
Baby Makin' Music and the 2007 holiday album I'll Be Home for Christmas''. In 2007, the Isleys' career was interrupted by Ron Isley's three-year prison sentence for tax evasion. He was released in 2010. In June of that year, youngest brother Marvin Isley died in Chicago after his longtime bout with diabetes. During the group's hiatus, Ernie toured as part of the
Experience Hendrix concert festival, while Ron Isley released his first solo album,
Mr. I, in 2010. A year later, Ron and Ernie reunited and have since performed on the road. In 1993, the Isley Brothers song "
Footsteps in the Dark" was sampled by hip-hop artist
Ice Cube for the hit single "
It Was a Good Day". In 1994, the Isley Brothers song "
Between the Sheets" was sampled by
The Notorious B.I.G. for his hit single "
Big Poppa". That same year, R&B singer
Aaliyah included a cover version of "
(At Your Best) You Are Love" on her debut album, ''
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number''. "
Luxurious", the fifth single from No Doubt frontwoman
Gwen Stefani's 2004 multi-platinum solo debut
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. also benefited from a prominent sample of "
Between the Sheets". After the break-up of
Isley-Jasper-Isley in 1987, Chris Jasper continued as a solo artist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, forming his own independent record label, Gold City Records. He has since released 14 solo albums, including 4 gospel albums. He released the number one R&B hit "Superbad" in 1988, a song which emphasized the importance of education, a theme Jasper continues to emphasize in many of the songs he has written since his days with the Isleys. In January 2013, Jasper released
Inspired: By Love, By Life, By the Spirit, a compilation of love songs as well as socially conscious and spiritual tracks. In May 2014, Jasper released
The One, reminiscent of the soulful R&B and funk music he wrote for the Isleys. In 2016, Jasper released
Share With Me, which included a cover of the Billy Preston hit, "You Are So Beautiful" and a track called "America", a tribute to the nation and a call to come together. In April 2018, Jasper pre-released a double-A single "The Love That You Give/It's a Miracle" from his 15th solo album
Dance With You, scheduled for a July 2018 release. Jasper, who earned a
Juris Doctor in 2004, has continued to write, record, and perform all the music on his solo albums and produce artists for his Gold City label, including Liz Hogue, Out Front, and Brothaz By Choice. The most recent addition to the Gold City label is Jasper's son, Michael Jasper, a songwriter, recording artist and screenplay writer, who earned his law degree in 2018. In 1989, Chris Jasper wrote, produced and performed on "Make It Last" for
Chaka Khan's
CK album. In 2015, in conjunction with Sony Music, Jasper released the
Essential Chris Jasper which encompasses all of the tracks that Jasper sang lead on during his Isley-Jasper-Isley years and solo career at CBS/Sony Music. In 2015, he received the German Record Critics Lifetime Achievement Award ("Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik"). In 2016, Jasper was awarded the National R&B Society Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, the Isley Brothers (Ernie and Ronnie) collaborated with guitarist
Santana (led by its namesake and founder
Carlos Santana) and released
Power of Peace, Lifetime Achievement Award and Proclamations from the City of Atlantic City, while on stage in Atlantic City, NJ. In 2021 the brothers participated in a
Verzuz with fellow R&B band
Earth, Wind & Fire hosted by
Steve Harvey, to celebrate both bands contributions to R&B & Pop music and African American culture. On September 30, 2022, the Isley Brothers released a new album, titled
Make Me Say It Again, Girl, duetting with
Beyoncé on the title track. ==Musical style and influences==