The Isley Brothers founder Rudolph Isley dead at 84 after fight with brother Ronald over legendary group’s trademark
RUDOLPH Isley, founder of The Isley Brothers has died at 84 years old.
The news of his death came after the fight between him and his brother over The Isley Brothers trademark.
The singer died on Wednesday in Illinois and the reason for his death has not been made public, according to TMZ.
However, one source told the news outlet that he suffered a heart attack.
Rudolph, along with his brothers, Ronald, O’Kelly, and Vernon, created The Isley Brothers.
In 1955, the brothers moved to New York in order to record music, eventually signing with RCA Records.
Their first single, Shout, became their top hit.
The song currently has 105million streams on Spotify.
Other huge hits the band had throughout their career include Twist & Shout, This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You), Footsteps in the Dark, and It’s Your Thing.
In 1971, The Isley Brothers added more members as their family grew bigger and added brothers Ernie and Marvin as well as Rudolph’s brother-in-law, Chris Jasper.
Rudolph decided to leave the band in 1989 to follow his dreams of becoming a Christian minister but eventually reunited with the group.
In 1992, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Little Richard.
Many of The Isley Brothers’ songs have been sampled by other big-name artists including The Notorious B.I.G. and Ice Cube.
FAMILY FIGHT
In March 2023, Rudolph sued his brother, Ronald, over the group’s trademark.
Rudolph claimed that he lost a lot of money because of his brother.
In court papers obtained by TMZ at the time, Rudolph sued Ronald over the rights of The Isley Brothers and asked for the trademark to be in his own name so he would get all the profits.