Rudolph Isley, who held dual roles in the influential vocal group Isley Brothers as a mellifluous harmony singer and co-writer of many of their biggest hits, died Wednesday at his home in Chicago. He was 84.
He died in his sleep, his brother Ernie said, adding that he was not aware of any health problems his brother might have had.
Mr. Isley spent much of his three decades with the Isley Brothers harmonizing with his brother O’Kelly to support Ronald Isley’s lead vocals. But he also sang lead on some notable tracks. On “I’ve Got to Get Myself Together,” recorded in 1969, his gentlemanly tone gave the song a touch of grace. He also provided the gentle impetus for the group’s fleeting entry into the disco industry: “It’s a Disco Night (Rock Don’t Stop)”, which was a club hit in the United States in 1979 and reached the Top 20 in Britain.
The Isley Brothers were always in fashion, and in the 1970s and 1980s Mr. Isley made his own fashion statement, wearing hats and furs and carrying a jeweled cane, which gave the Isleys extra oomph.
He and his brothers wrote a series of crucial hits, beginning with “Shout,” the group’s 1959 breakthrough, which brought the call-and-response dynamics of gospel music to a pop context. They also wrote the enduring political anthem “Fight the Power,” a Top 5 Billboard hit, as well as the Top 10 pop hits “It’s Your Thing” and “That Lady.”
Sixteen of the Isley Brothers’ albums made the Billboard Top 40, 13 were certified gold, and nine were certified platinum or multiplatinum.
In 1989, Mr. Isley retired from the mainstream music industry to pursue his long-held dream of a career in ministry, although he continued to sing in church. He also recorded some gospel songs and released a religious album in 1996 called “Shouting for Jesus: A Loud Joyful Noise.” He and his brothers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Rudolph Bernard Isley was born in Cincinnati on April 1, 1939, the second of six sons born to Sallye (Bell) and O’Kelly Isley. He began singing in church as a child, and as a teenager he and three of the other older Isleys performed and toured locally together.
“I have some very special memories of listening to music with my brothers when we were young,” Mr. Isley told music journalist Leo Sacks for the liner notes to a 1999 box set produced by Mr. Sacks, “It’s Your Thing: The Story of Isley.” Brothers.” He added: “Billy Ward and the Dominoes, that was a group. We idolized her. We did our own thing because we never lost the harmonious group dynamic.”
In the group’s early days, the eldest brother, Vernon, sang the lead role. He died at the age of 13 when his bicycle was hit by a car, and Ronald became the lead singer.
The Isleys were still quite young when Rudolph, O’Kelly and Ronald moved to New York to sign a record deal. Contracts with small labels led to a deal with RCA, one of the industry’s largest, in 1959, and soon after, the Isleys wrote and recorded “Shout.” It sold over a million copies and was recognized as a rock and roll classic, spawning covers by Dion, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks and many others. (It was also heard in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and other films.)
In 1962, the Isleys had a Top 40 hit with their cover of “Twist and Shout,” written by Bert Berns and Phil Medley and originally recorded by Top Notes a year earlier. Their recording served as a template for the much more popular version recorded by the Beatles in 1963.
For a short time in 1964, the Isley Brothers band included a young guitarist named Jimmy James, who later became known as Jimi Hendrix.
The Isleys signed with Motown in 1965. But despite the label’s reputation for generating hits, they only had one in their short tenure there: “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),” written by the label’s top songwriting team, Lamont Dozier and Brian and Eddie Holland (with Sylvia Moy). It reached number 12 on the Billboard charts and number 3 in the UK. Frustrated with Motown’s controlling approach, the brothers left the label, unusual for an African-American act at the time, and founded their own label, T-Neck Records, named after Teaneck, New Jersey, where they were based.
Shifting to a rougher and funkier style influenced by James Brown and Sly Stone, the trio found a new métier and a new commercial connection. Her 1969 single “It’s Your Thing” rose to No. 2 on Billboard’s pop chart and No. 1 on the magazine’s R&B list.
In the early 1970s, the group expanded to include the two youngest siblings, Ernie and Marvin, as well as Rudolph’s brother-in-law, Chris Jasper; All three contributed instrumental music, and Mr. Jasper also sang. The result was a largely independent band, another rarity for black artists of the time. Together they created a unique, rock’n’roll-esque brand of funk and soul. Over the years, their music has covered a wide range of genres, from doo-wop to gospel to quiet storm ballads.
From 1973 to 1981, all of the group’s albums went gold, platinum or multiplatinum. Most of the tracks on these albums were co-written by Mr. Isley and the other members.
The group also scored a platinum album in 1986 with “Between the Sheets,” whose title track was their sensual response to Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.” Rudolph Isley shared lead vocals with his brother Ronald on two tracks from that album, the spacey funk number “Way Out Love” and the sensual grind “Slow Down Children.”
With the rise of hip-hop, the Isleys’ classic material provided the source for more samples than any other act except James Brown and George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic.
The death of O’Kelly Isley from a heart attack in 1986 hit Rudolph particularly hard. The group’s next album, “Smooth Sailin'” (1987), featured only him and Ronald on the cover and was dedicated to O’Kelly. Two years later, Rudolph gave up the music business.
Nevertheless, the always inventive, forward-thinking group persevered and celebrated a successful comeback in 1996 with the album “Mission to Please”, carried by the production and writing of R. Kelly. Rudolph Isley reunited with his brothers for an evening in 2004 when the group received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards.
In March, Rudolph sued his brother Ronald, claiming he tried to secure a trademark for the group using only his own name. The lawsuit alleged that the founding members were a “common law partnership” “at all times.”
Marvin Isley died of complications from diabetes in 2010.
In addition to his brother Ernie, Rudolph Isley’s survivors include his wife Elaine Jasper, whom he married in 1958; her children Rudy Jr., Elizabeth, Valerie and Elaine; his brother Ronald; and several grandchildren.
“Music and faith are just in our blood,” Ms. Isley was quoted as saying in the liner notes to “It’s Your Thing.” “I may have stopped singing pop music, but I’ll always be an Isley Brother.”
Bernard Mokam contributed reporting.