According to Stereogum, Rudolph Isley of the Isley brothers has died at 84. He passed away on Wednesday in Illinois; a source told TMZ that it’s believed that he suffered a heart attack.
Isley formed the group with his brothers O’Kelly, Ronald and Vernon while singing at their church in suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. They performed on the East Coast church circuit and won a competition on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour series, but disbanded after lead vocalist Vernon was hit by a car and killed while riding his bicycle when he was only 13.
The Isley Brothers got back together in 1957, and they moved to New York City to for a record deal. In 1959, they released their first big single, “Shout,” for RCA, inspired by their own version of Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops.” The whole family ended up moving to New Jersey, and the Isley Brothers continued with chart success throughout the ’60s: they turned a rework of “Twist And Shout” in a Top 20 hit, they recorded “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)” for Motown,” and they ended the decade with the classic “It’s Your Thing.”
The group grew to include other brothers in the Isley family and extended relatives, and they continued recording best-selling albums in the next decade: 3+3 included a new version of their own “Who’s That Lady,” and The Heat Is On featured “Fight The Power.” They continued notching up R&B hits into the ’80s, though some of the newer members splintered off into a different group. In 1986, O’Kelly passed away; a few years after that, Rudolph Isley left to become a Christian minister. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as part of the Isley Brothers in 1992.
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