Isley, Ronald (21st May 1941-Present)

He is a singer-songwriter, producer and actor, aka Mr. Biggs, born in Cincinnati, Ohio as the third of six musical brothers to a father who was a professional singer and a mother who was a pianist. He began singing in church from the time he was two when he won a $25 war bond in a spiritual singing contest. He had ventured onto the stage within just a few years and was accompanying Dinah Washington among others at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois when he was still only seven.

As a teenager he and his brothers would sing as a gospel trio at the church and go on church tours. Around that time he also made an appearance on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour.

After the death of his brother Vernon his two older brothers, O’Kelly and Rudolph, decided that the three of them should try singing doo-wop. They moved to New York and performed using the name The Isley Brothers and became known for their lively stage shows. After signing a deal with RCA Records they wrote the song “Shout” in 1959 which peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would later be recorded by many other artists and the song was listed as No. 119 on in “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” by Rolling Stone Magazine and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 1960 he married Margret Tinsley, with their daughter Tia Isley being born in 1969. The family moved to Engelwood, New Jersey while The Isley Brothers were gaining popularity and in 1969, after having worked with Motown, with whom they recorded the hit “This Old Heart of Mine”, they started their own T-Neck Records. This was when they saw real success with songs such as their Grammy Award winning “It’s Your Thing”. The brothers wrote most of their own songs and did their own production and in 1973 the younger brothers Ernie and Marvin joined the group, along with their brother-in-law Chris Jasper.

Following the death of his older brother O’Kelly in 1986 and Rudolph’s decision to join the ministry he continued to use The Isley Brothers’ name with the other brothers as well as venturing out as a solo artist. Working with Rod Stewart in 1990 he recorded the duet of “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)” which reached the No. 1 on the US and Canada Adult Contemporary Charts, No. 2 in the Canada Top Singles and No. 10 in the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1992 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Isley Brothers and in 1993 he was married for the second time to the singer Angela Winbush and divorced after 9 years in 2002.

In 2003 he released the solo album Here I Am: Bacharach Meets Isley. Three years later he was sent to prison for tax evasion and served three years and one month in Terre Haute, Indiana at the Federal Correctional Institution, being moved to a half-way house in St. Louis for the final few months.

in 2010 his album Mr. I was released with the single “No More” which debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 50. Also in 2010 Soul Train Music Awards presented him with a Legend Award. In 2007 his third marriage was to the background singer Kandy Johnson and their son Ronald Isley Jr. was born in December of that year.

In 2013 he released his This Song Is for You which received a Soul Train Music Award for nominees Independent R&B/Soul Artist Performance. The following year, in 2014, he had a cameo in the video of “I” by Kendrick Lamar and in 2015 he performed on Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost”. In 2016 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Berklee College of Music.

In 2021 the Isley Brothers “Friends and Family” reach the Top 50 in the Hip-Hop and R&B chart which would be the eighth separate decade his work as part of a group or solo artist has been on the Billboard charts.

The Isley Brothers recordings
Shout (O’Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley,Rudolph Isley)
RCA Victor 47-7588 (US single)

Sources:

Isley, Ronald (21st May 1941-Present)

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