The Isley Brothers One of the founding members and first inductees into the Black Music Walk of Fame is the band The Isley Brothers. Cincinnati-born brothers O’Kelly, Rudolph, Ronald and Veron Isley first formed the band as a teenage gospel quartet in the mid-’50s but quit performing after Vernon, 13 at the time, was hit and killed by a car while riding his bike. But in 1957, the three remaining brothers moved to New York City at the encouragement of their parents and hit it big as a rock and roll group, with their 1959 single and album “Shout!” becoming a massive success. The Isley Brothers found success in rock and roll throughout the ‘60s and worked with and influenced some of music’s biggest names, like Jimi Hendrix, who toured with the Isley Brothers as a backing guitarist, and The Beatles (Paul McCartney once said, “If it were not for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool.”). The group worked with Berry Gordy of Motown Records on two albums before forming their own label, T-Neck Records, and releasing their music independently, redefining the R&B genre forever. Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com/Wikimedia Commons

Ron and Ernie Isley Photo: John Mathew Smith and www.celebrity-photos.com (CC-by-2.0)

In honor of the 60th anniversary of the iconic song, “Shout,” 1992 Inductees Ronald and Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers will be at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday to participate in an interview. If you’re in the area, the free event begins at noon.

To mark the occasion, the Rock Hall will play highlights from the Isley Brothers’ 1992 Rock Hall induction, including their performance of “Shout” and Ernie Isley’s tribute to Jimi Hendrix. They’ll also play clips from Ron Isley’s performance at the Hall of Fame’s Music Masters event that honored Aretha Franklin.

The Isleys first came together as a musical entity in 1954. Brothers Ronald, O’Kelly, Rudolph and Vernon Isley were raised in Lincoln Heights and Blue Ash. After regrouping following Vernon’s death (he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle), the Isleys moved to New York City in 1957; two years later, “Shout” kicked-off several decades’ worth of hits — from “Twist and Shout” to “That Lady.”

Throughout the day Friday, the Rock Hall will play Isley Brothers songs, and fans can compete in an interactive Isley Brothers pop-up Q&A, learn more about the group through Stories of Rock and check out the group’s signature panel in the Hall of Fame Gallery.

Band artifacts, including a drum case, the Moog Liberation synthesizer played by Chris Jasper, and a 7-inch single of “That Lady” from the personal collection of the Notorious B.I.G., a class of 2020 nominee, are currently on display.

The Isley Brothers will perform alongside fellow Inductees, the O’Jays, on Saturday at Cleveland’s State Theatre.

This article originally appeared at clevescene.com.

This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2019.

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