Isley, Rudolph “Rudy” (1st April 1939-11th October 2023)

He was a singer-songwriter born in Cincinnati, Ohio to a family of six musical brothers who had started to sing in church when he was very young. He and three of his brothers sang gospel together until his brother, Vernon, died in a bicycle road accident.

In 1957 he and and the other two brothers, O’Kelly and Ronald, changed their style to doo-wop and moved to New York, calling themselves The Isley Brothers. They began making appearances at several theatres which proved popular with the audiences and this led them to being sign to RCA after having recorded for smaller labels. He co-wrote the song “Shout” with his brothers which gave them their first chart record in 1959, as well as being covered by other artists and would eventually lead to being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Also in 1959 he and the family moved to Englewood, New Jersey.

The brothers moved their record label to Motown and had hits with “Twist & Shout” and “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) but wanting to write and promote their own records they founded their own T-Neck Records label. That gave them the chance to write and record their own work and in 1969 they had won a Grammy Award for the hit “It’s Your Thing”.

Rudolph wasn’t the lead singer for the most part but he did take lead vocals on several of their songs and would be recognised on-stage for carrying a cane and wearing hats and fur. Some of the songs he shared lead vocals on are “Livin’ the Life” and “Fight the Power”. The group evolved into a band when his brothers Marvin and Ernie, along with his brother in law, Chris Jasper joined up.

In 1979 the release of Harvest for the World saw him singing lead vocals on the hit “It’s a Disco Night (Rock Don’t Stop)” and the track “You Still Feel the Need”.

Things changed for him when his brother O’Kelly died suddenly from a heart attack in 1986. They had been very close and although he recorded the next albums Smooth Silin’ and Spend the Night he decided to leave The Isley Brothers and become a Christian minister. This was something he had always wanted to do and he and his wife, Elaine Jasper, who he had married in 1958, moved from Teaneck, New Jersey to Haworth, New Jersey and then to become long-term residents in Otisville, New York before later moving to Olympia Fields in Illinois.

In 1992 he and his brothers were inducted in to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004 he and Ernie and Ronald Isley were presented with the BET Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

He died from a heart attack at home in October 2023 when he was 84 years old.

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

Sources:

Isley, Rudolph “Rudy” (1st April 1939-11th October 2023)

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