O'Kelly "Kelly" Isley Jr. (December 25, 1937 – March 31, 1986) was an American singer and one of the founding members of the family group

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

Biography

The eldest of the Isley Brothers, Kelly started singing with his brothers at church. When he was 16, he and his three younger brothers ( Rudy,

Ronnie Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

and Vernon) formed The Isley Brothers and toured the gospel circuit. Following the death of Vernon in a road accident, the brothers decided to try their hand at

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

and moved to New York to find a recording deal. Between 1957 and 1959, the Isleys would record for labels such as Teenage and Mark X. In 1959, they signed with RCA Records after a scout spotted the trio's energetic live performance. O'Kelly and his brothers co-wrote their first significant hit, " Shout". While the original version only peaked at the top 50 of the Hot 100, subsequent versions helped the song sell over a million copies. Later moving on to other labels including

Scepter A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...

and

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, the brothers would have hits with " Twist & Shout" in 1962 and " This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)". In 1959, the Isley family had relocated to

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from po ...

where Kelly stayed with his mother and younger siblings.Wilner, Paul
"Isley Brothers: A Family Affair"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 13 March 1977. Accessed 18 September 2011. "WHEN Sallye Isley moved her brood of children from Cincinnati to Englewood in the summer of 1959, she was participating in a show-business phenomenon.... While their older brothers toured America, the younger Isley boys enrolled successively in Englewood Junior High and Dwight Morrow High School.... Right now, the brothers reside near enough to each other to keep in close touch. Ronald lives in Teaneck, Kelly Jr. in Alpine, Rudolph in Haworth and Ernie in Englewood." In 1969, the brothers left Motown and started their own label, T-Neck Records, where they would write the majority of their recordings, including " It's Your Thing". Kelly and his brother Rudy began to take some lead spots on the group's albums starting with the '' It's Our Thing'' album in 1969. The track, "Black Berries", from their '' The Brothers: Isley'' album, was dedicated to Kelly, who Ron would always quote him as saying "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice". That saying had been originated by

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

novelist Wallace Thurman in the 1929 novel, '' The Blacker the Berry''. After the inclusion of younger brothers

Ernie Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c ...

and Marvin and brother-in-law

Chris Jasper Christopher Howard Jasper (born December 30, 1951) Allmusic biography/ref> is an American singer, composer, and producer. Jasper is a former member of the Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley and is responsible for writing and producing the ...

, Kelly, Rudy and Ron didn't write as much as they did in the past but in an agreement shared parts of the composition credits as they owned the songs' publishing. Kelly Isley during the Isleys' 1970s heyday was usually photographed wearing a cowboy hat and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

type of clothing. According to his brother Ernie, it was Kelly who discovered a homeless

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

after hearing of Hendrix's talents as a guitarist and helped him get a job with the brothers' band and allowed to live in his mother's house. In 1985, the brothers released the ''

Masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' album. It is Kelly who sings most of the lead of the

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

ballad, "

If Leaving Me Is Easy "If Leaving Me Is Easy" is a song by Phil Collins from his 1981 album ''Face Value''. Released as the third single from the album, it reached No. 17 in the UK, but was not released as a single in the United States. The song was also a top 40 hit ...

", on the album with Ron backing him up. Kelly's last appearance as member of the Isley Brothers was in 1986 on the song "Good Hands" from the Wildcats soundtrack. A heavyset man, Kelly contracted cancer and lost weight, which was shown on the group's album cover of ''

''. On March 31, 1986, O'Kelly suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 48 in his

Alpine, New Jersey Alpine is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is the easternmost community in New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,849,

home leaving behind two sons, Frank and Doug.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

"O'KELLY ISLEY"
''

'', 3 April 1986. Accessed 8 October 2007. "He was 48 years old and lived in Alpine. Born Dec. 25, 1937, Mr. Isley grew up in Cincinnati and began his musical career singing gospel with his brothers, who performed with their mother accompanying on piano." He is buried in George Washington Memorial Park in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

.Browse by Cemetery: George Washington Memorial Park

Find A Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fi ...

, accessed 6 April 2007 The Isley Brothers' follow-up record following Kelly's death, '' Smooth Sailin''', was dedicated to him and featured their tribute song, "Send A Message". Kelly Isley was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Isley Brothers in 1992.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isley, OKelly Jr. 1937 births 1986 deaths Musicians from Cincinnati The Isley Brothers members African-American rock singers American soul singers People from Alpine, New Jersey People from Englewood, New Jersey 20th-century American singers Burials at George Washington Memorial Park (Paramus, New Jersey)