Ronald Isley Shares How The Isley Brothers Spent Their First Paycheck

In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, famed singing group The Isley Brothers revealed what they did with the spoils from their first gig when they pocketed $500. 

Last week, Ronald Isley and Ernie Isley appeared on the popular radio show hosted by Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy with special guest hosts Weezy and Mandii B, according to Afrotech. They spoke with the founding group members about how much they made off their first gig and what they did with the money earned.

The first paid gig for the trio, which included the founding three brothers, O’Kelly “Kelly” Isley Jr., who passed away on March 31, 1986, Rudolph Isley, and Ronald Isley, took place in the 1950s. Ronald recalled the group being paid $500 to split between the three.

The 81-year-old said, “I remember our first gig that we made, like $500 between the brothers, just the three brothers… We went to one of those stores, uh, thrift shops… Man, I went in there; we all bought different suits.”

The Isley Brothers have been in the music business for almost 70 years after the group started as a trio in 1954. In 1959, after releasing their fourth single, “Shout,” the brothers received their first chart single that appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. “Shout” was also their first platinum record, selling over a million records.

Their popularity grew after recording several more songs on their independent label, T-Neck Records, which spawned a Top 20 single that can still be heard on the radio today and on several movie soundtracks, “Twist and Shout.” Their first Grammy Award was for the popular recording of “It’s Your Thing.”

The trio became an official band in 1973 when their younger brothers, Ernie and Marvin, joined them, along with Rudolph’s brother-in-law, Chris Jasper. Ten years later, the remaining three members created their own group, Isley-Jasper-Isley. Years later, after O’Kelly passed away and Rudolph retired Ronald and Ernie continued as The Isley Brothers.