Fourty FOUR Visual

Do you know the Isley Brothers?

Their careers span over seven decades and the group has enjoyed one of the "longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music.” Sixteen of their albums charted in the Top 40 and thirteen of those albums have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum.

The brothers began performing together in 1954, and patterning themselves after groups such as Billy Ward and His Dominoes and The Dixie Hummingbirds. Eventually, they got an opportunity to display their talents on the, Ted Mack's television show Amateur Hour, where they won first place and a watch as the prize. The group consisted of O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley, Ronald Isley with Vernon Isley singing lead vocals. The quartet soon began touring all over the eastern US, performing in a variety of churches. Vernon was struck by a car as he was riding his bike in his neighborhood when he was thirteen. He never recovered. This devastated the group and the remaining trio, O'Kelly,, Rudolph and Ronald disbanded the group. They were eventually persuaded to regroup, with Ronald, who had began singing at the age of two, assuming the lead vocal position. In 1957 the group decided to record popular music, with their parents blessing and they moved from Cincinnati to New York.

After moving to New York City in the late 1950s, the group had their first successes during these early years, and rose to prominence in 1959 with their fourth single, "Shout", written by the three brothers. This was their first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over a million copies. In the 1960s, the group recorded songs for a variety of labels, including the top 20 single "Twist and Shout" and the Motown single "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", before recording and releasing the Grammy Award-winning hit "It's Your Thing" on their own label, T-Neck Records.

In 1973 turned the original vocal trio into a complete band with the inclusion of younger brothers Ernie Isley (lead guitar & drums) and Marvin Isley (bass guitar), and Rudolph's brother-in-law Chris Jasper (keyboards & synthesizers).

For the next full decade, the group recorded a string of top-selling albums including 3 + 3, Between the Sheets, and The Heat Is On, with the latter peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The six-member band splintered in 1983, with Ernie, Marvin, and Chris Jasper forming the short-lived spinoff group Isley-Jasper-Isley. The oldest member, O'Kelly, passed in 1986. Afterwards Rudolph and Ronald released a pair of albums as a duo before Rudolph retired to a life in the Christian ministry in 1989. After multiple lineup changes, the remaining duo of Ronald and Ernie achieved mainstream success with the albums Mission to Please (1996), Eternal (2001) and Body Kiss (2003). Eternal spawned the top 20 hit "Contagious". As of 2023, the Isley Brothers continue to perform under the lineup of Ronald and Ernie. They just released a new album, titled Make Me Say It Again, Girl last September featuring collaborations with Beyoncé, 2 Chains, Earth, Wind & Fire, El DeBarge, and Snoop Dogg. They are true music legends and we celebrate them this black history month.

I created a coloring book spotlighting our musical legends from the late 1800s to now. Take the journey with us as we go through decades of music and musicians from Ragtime to Rap by purchasing a copy at EstellesBooks.com.