Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers started out in Cincinnati in 1954, a gospel act built around the voices of O'Kelly, Rudolph and Ronald Isley, who carried on as a trio after their brother Vernon died that year. They moved to New York, and in 1959 they tore the roof off with "Shout", a song the three wrote themselves, which sold over a million copies. The '60s brought "Twist and Shout", a stint at Motown for "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" and then the Grammy-winning "It's Your Thing" on their own T-Neck label, as loose and funky as anything the decade produced.

In 1973 younger brothers Ernie on lead guitar and drums and Marvin on bass, plus brother-in-law Chris Jasper on keyboards and synthesizers, turned the vocal group into a full band, and the music caught fire: Ernie's searing guitar and slick, sensual grooves on albums like 3 + 3, Between the Sheets and The Heat Is On, which went to number one on the Billboard 200.

The six-piece eventually splintered, O'Kelly died in 1986 and Rudolph left for the Christian ministry in 1989, but Ronald and Ernie kept going and scored again with Mission to Please, Eternal and its hit "Contagious", and Body Kiss. They're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992) and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.