Ronald 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.[1] 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 onstage at venues such as the Regal Theater in Chicago, alongside Dinah Washington and a few other notables.
By his early teens, he was singing regularly with his brothers in church tours. In 1957, sixteen-year-old Ronald and his two elder brothers 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". 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 departure 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.
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 hip-hop acts such as R. Kelly, 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 #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", surveying Isley Brother music written largely by the younger brothers, at the Soul Train Music Awards.
Ricky Bell
he youngest of eleven children, Bell grew up in the Orchard Park projects. He began his career singing with close friend, Ralph Tresvant in a group called "Ricky and Ralph." Later, Bell, along with Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, and Ronnie DeVoe became New Edition. The group began a career in 1983 that has spanned twenty five years. After the departure of Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill joined the group in the mid 1980s. Before Gill joined the group, Bell was originally the oldest member of New Edition. After recording the Heartbreak album, Ricky was given the chance to be a solo artist but opted instead to form Bell Biv DeVoe.
The "best kept secret" originally gained the respect of the industry when record producer Jimmy Jam had an idea for a spin-off group called Bell Biv DeVoe with Bell as the lead singer. BBD as the group is commonly known, was the first group to integrate the elements of Rap and R&B consistently, calling their style "Hip-Hop smoothed out on an R&B tip with a Pop feel appeal to it." BBD's 1990 debut established Bell as a lead singer capable of chart topping success.
Although Bell had primarily performed as a backup vocalist with New Edition, during the 1990s he emerged as one of the most utilized voices on singles released by the group. With the exception of the ensemble songs, "Hot2Nite" and "Hit Me Off," and the Brown-led "You Don't Have to Worry," Bell performed lead or co-lead on the remainder of the group's charting singles. "I'm Still in Love With You," which also featured Ralph Tresvant, was so successful that a Spanish language version was recorded, "Siempre Tu," and "One More Day" has the distinction of being the only New Edition song with a solo member appearing in the video.
Other recordings featuring Bell's vocals include Red Bandit's 1990 single "Please Don't Cry," backup vocals on "Pretty Little Girl" from Bobby Brown's 1992 album, and, with Ralph Tresvant, on LL Cool J's 1997 song "Candy."
With Bell Biv DeVoe and New Edition, Bell has over two dozen television and film performances including Knight Rider, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, New York Undercover, Family Matters, the movie Krush Groove, and numerous music, variety, and awards programs.
In 2004, in a double wedding with Tresvant, Bell married actress Amy Correa. Ricky and his wife Amy currently have no children.
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