Founding member of the Isley Brothers, Rudolph Isley, has died aged 84

Founding member of the Isley Brothers, Rudolph Isley, has died aged 84.

Before leaving the R&B family group in 1989, Rudolph worked on hits such as ‘Shout’, ‘Summer Breeze’ and ‘Fight the Power’.

Rudolph’s attorney, Brian D. Caplan confirmed the news in a statement from the artist’s daughter to Pitchfork.

The statement reads: “Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the world famous Isley Brothers, died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of October 11, 2023. He died at his home, with his devoted wife Elaine by his side. They had been married for 68 years. Rudolph was a deeply religious man who loved Jesus.”

The late singer was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and began singing in his local church from a young age.

He co-founded the Isley Brothers with his brothers Kelly, Ronnie and Vernon in his teenage years.

After the death of his brother Vernon in 1957, the three brothers moved to New York where they landed a record deal with RCA Records releasing their single ‘Shout’.

Rudolph mostly sang harmonies for the group but took lead vocals on tracks ‘I've Got to Get Myself Together’ and ‘It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)’ which made it to the UK’s Top 20.

In 1973, younger brothers Marvin and Ernie Isley, along with brother-in-law Chris Jasper, joined the group which saw them release their platinum-selling album, ‘3 +3’.

Hit singles of the group include ‘Summer Breeze’, ‘Harvest for the World’ and ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ which was sampled on Ice Cube’s ‘Today Was a Good Day’, J Dilla’s ‘Won’t Do’ and Thundercat’s ‘Them Changes’.

Many other tracks from the band have been heavily sampled such as their 1973 release ‘That Lady’ which was sampled by Beastie Boys’ ‘B-Boy Bouillabaisse’, Basement Jaxx’s ‘Jus 1 Kiss’ and Kendrick Lamar’s ‘I’.

In 1989, Rudolph left the Isley Brothers to become a Christian minister.

Take a listen to the Isley Brothers’ ‘That Lady’ below.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter