Early life

Isley was born the third of six brothers (O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley, Ronald, Vernon Isley, Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley) to Sallye Bernice (Bell) and O'Kelly Isley, Sr. Ronald, like many of his siblings, began his career in the church. He began singing at the age of three, winning a $25 war bond for singing at a spiritual contest at the Union Baptist Church. By the age of seven, Ronald was singing on-stage at venues such as the Regal Theater in Chicago, alongside Dinah Washington and a few other notables.

Career

By his early teens, he was singing regularly with his brothers in church tours and also first appeared on TV on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour. In 1957, sixteen-year-old Ronald and his two elder brothers O'Kelly, 19 and Rudy, 18, moved to New York, recording doo-wop for local labels before landing a major deal with RCA Records in 1959, where the trio wrote and released their anthemic "Shout." By the summer of 1959, the Isley family had moved from Cincinnati to a home in Englewood, New Jersey.

For much of the Isley Brothers' duration, Ron Isley would remain the group's consistent member of the group as well as the lead vocalist for most of the group's tenure with sporadic lead shares with his older brothers. In 1969, Ron and his brothers reformed T-Neck Records in a need to produce themselves without the control of record labels, forming the label shortly after ending a brief tenure with Motown. In 1973, the group's style and sound drastically changed following the release of the 3 + 3 album where brothers Ernie Isley and Marvin Isley and in-law Chris Jasper permanently enter the brothers' lineup, writing the music and lyrics to the group's new sound. The younger brothers had been providing instrumental help for the brothers since the late 1960s. By the mid-1970s, Ronald was living in Teaneck, New Jersey.

After Kelly Isley's death in 1986 and Rudy Isley's exit to fulfill a dream of ministry in 1989, Ronald has carried on with the Isley Brothers name either as a solo artist or with accompanying help from the group's younger brothers, much more prominently, Ernie Isley. In 1990, Isley scored a top-ten duet with Rod Stewart with a cover of his brothers' hit "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," and in 2003 Ronald recorded a solo album, Here I Am: Bacharach Meets Isley, with Burt Bacharach. In addition, Ron Isley became a sought-after hook singer for R&B veteran R. Kelly, and hip-hop acts such as Warren G., 2Pac and UGK.

Ronald released his first solo album Mr. I on November 30, 2010. The album includes the first single "No More" It debuted at number 50 on the Billboard 200, selling 22,243 copies. It was his first solo album to crack that chart.

In 2010, Isley received a "Legend Award" at the Soul Train Music Awards.

In 2013, Ronald released his second solo album This Song Is For You sign labels eOne. The album includes the first single "Dinner and A Movie". Second single, Premiere Song "My Favorite Thing" wrote, features and produced singer, Kem. Ronald received a nominees Independent R&B/Soul Artist Performance, at the Soul Train Music Awards.

In 2014, Ronald made a cameo appearance in the music video for Kendrick Lamar song "i".

Personal life

In 1993, Isley married producer/composer/singer Angela Winbush in Los Angeles, California. They quietly divorced in early 2002. When Winbush received chemotherapy following her ovarian cancer diagnosis, Isley was by her side giving her his support in her recovery. He has older children with various women, including daughters Tawanna and Trenisha. In 2004, while in London, Isley suffered a mild stroke, which halted an Isley Brothers tour there. In September 2005, Isley made headlines when he married background singer Kandy Johnson (of the duo JS/Johnson Sisters), who is 35 years his junior. Their son, Ronald Isley, Jr. was born in January 2007. In 2007, it was reported Isley had kidney problems. He still lives in St. Louis.

Tax evasion

In 2006, Isley was convicted of tax evasion charges and sentenced to three years and one month in prison. Isley's sentence was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Isley was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution at Terre Haute, Indiana, and was scheduled for release on April 13, 2010. He was moved to a half-way house in St. Louis, Missouri, following an early departure that October. After his sentence was completed, Isley was released from a federal half-way house on April 13, 2010.

Isley is listed as one of California's most delinquent taxpayers, with a $303,411.43 debt from a lien filed on October 22, 2002.

Discography

See also: The Isley Brothers discography

Solo Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	US R&B/HH
Here I Am (with Burt Bacharach)	Released: November 11, 2003 Label: DreamWorks Formats: CD, digital download	73	22
Mr. I	Released: November 30, 2010 Label: Def Jam Formats: CD, digital download	50	11
This Song Is For You	Released: July 16, 2013 Label: E1 Formats: CD, digital download	27	9

Solo Single

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		US	US R&B/HH	US Adult R&B
"No More"	2010	—	70	—	Mr. I
"What I Miss the Most"		—	79	—
"Dinner and A Movie"	2013	—	—	9	This Song Is For You
"My Favorite Thing" (featuring KEM)		—	—	5
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		US	US R&B/HH
"Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (R. Kelly featuring Ronald Isley)	1995	4	1	R. Kelly
"Come with Me" (Keith Sweat featuring Ronald Isley)	1996	68	27	Keith Sweat
"Smokin' Me Out" (Warren G featuring Ronald Isley)	1997	35	20	Take a Look Over Your Shoulder
"Friend Of Mine" (Kelly Price featuring Ronald Isley and R. Kelly)	1998	12	1	Soul of a Woman
"Bigger Business" (Swizz Beatz featuring Jadakiss, Ronald Isley, Diddy, Birdman, Snoop Dogg, Cassidy and TQ)	2002	—	72	Swizz Beatz Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories
"Gotta Go Solo" (Patti Labelle featuring Ronald Isley)	2004	89	31
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		US	US R&B/HH
""How Much A Dollar Cost" (Kendrick Lamar featuring James Fauntleroy and Ronald Isley)	2015	109	40	To Pimp a Butterfly
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Other performer(s)	Album
"Lay Your Troubles Down"	1989	Angela Winbush	It's the Real Thing
"Precious"
"This Old Heart of Mine"	1990	Rod Stewart	N/A
"Baby Hold On"	1994	Angela Winbush	Angela Winbush
"I'm Gon Blow Up"	1997	Queen Pen	My Melody
"Daddy's Little Baby"	1999	Ja Rule	Venni Vetti Vecci
"Project Windows"		Nas	Nastradamus
"Heaven's Girl"		Quincy Jones, R. Kelly, Aaron Hall, Charlie Wilson and Naomi Campbell	Q's Jook Joint
"Back in the Game"	2001	Wu-Tang Clan	Iron Flag
"There I Go Again / So Long"		Mobb Deep	Infamy
"The Letter"		Foxy Brown	Broken Silence
"Better Dayz"	2002	2Pac	Better Dayz
"Handle Your Business"	2003	JS	Ice Cream
"Pimp Juice" (Jason "Jay E" Epperson Remix)		Nelly	Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention
"Showdown"		R. Kelly	Chocolate Factory
"She Don't Know My Name"	2004	Nelly, Snoop Dogg	Suit and SweatSuit
"I Cry"		Trick Daddy	Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets
"Po Nigga Blues" (Scott Storch Remix)		2Pac	Loyal to the Game
"Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (Live To Regret It/Blame It On The Mo Mix)	2005	R. Kelly	Remix City, Volume 1
"The Pimp & The Bun"	2009	UGK	UGK 4 Life
"Jesus"	2013	KEM, Patti LaBelle	What Christmas Means (Deluxe Edition)
"How Much a Dollar Cost?"	2015	Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy	To Pimp a Butterfly
"Love Makes The World Go Round"	2016	Santana	Santana IV
"Freedom In Your Mind"

Academic title

• Honorary doctorate of music, awarded by the Berklee College of Music, May 7, 2016.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]