Rudolph Isley, Founding Member of the Isley Brothers, Dead at 84

Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the Isley Brothers who provided backing vocals on the majority of the legendary soul group’s hits, has died at the age of 84.

“There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother. Our family will miss him. But I know he’s in a better place,” Rudolph’s brother, Ronald Isley, tells Rolling Stone in a statement.

Rudolph, along with brothers Ronald (“Ronnie”), Vernon, and O’Kelly (“Kelly”), formed the Isley Brothers as teenagers in Cincinnati in 1954; Vernon was killed when his bike was struck by a car the following year. The surviving brothers briefly disbanded before reuniting with Ronald on lead vocals and Kelly and Rudolph behind him.

As a trio, the three Isleys landed a contract with RCA Victor and penned their breakout hit together, the 1959 smash single “Shout,” followed three years later by their own hit rendition of “Twist and Shout.” 

While Rudolph infrequently sang lead vocals, he contributed songwriting and backing vocals to many of the group’s hits, including “That Lady,” “Nobody But Me,” and “Testify,” the latter featuring a young guitarist named Jimi Hendrix. 

Following a brief stint on Motown’s Tamla label, where they primarily recorded Holland-Dozier-Holland compositions, the trio founded their own T-Neck Records in 1966 and promptly released their first Top 10 hit, the Isleys-penned “It’s Your Thing.”

Joined in the late Sixties by younger brothers Marvin and Ernie, Rudolph remained with the Isley Brothers throughout their many genre shifts, from funk and disco to quiet storm and R&B. 

However, his tenure with the brotherly act ended in 1989 when — following Kelly’s death three years earlier — he decided to leave the music industry and become a Christian minister. Throughout the ensuing decades, Rudolph would only occasionally reunite with his brothers — however, he wasn’t present when the Isley Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 — but in the months before Rudolph’s death, he was involved in a legal battle against his brother Ronald over the legal rights to the Isley Brothers name.

With Rudolph’s death, the only surviving Isley Brothers are Ronald and Ernie.

From Rolling Stone US.