The Isley Brothers and Earth Wind & Fire verzuz music battle gave us a special Easter Sunday treat to remember during COVID on April 4, 2021. Each legendary group showed up ready to reflect on their decades of success and present to us hit after hit after hit.
Special guest host Steve Harvey hosted the Easter show while the two iconic groups performed their songs and told some stories. It closed with a huge match-up, “That Lady” versus “September,” before a video for the Isleys’ new Snoop Dogg–featuring song “Friends & Family” premiered.
One of the highlights of the night wasn’t just the music, it was actually the Ron Isley sexy vibes he was giving off. The now 82-year-old was looking real smooth and proved that his love ballads weren’t the only things that could get the ladies going.
His distinguished gray beard and cool, granddaddy vibes had ladies in social media talking about his apparent sexiness.
“Ron Isley is the star of every one of my groupchats right now,” actress Gabrielle Union wrote. “Folks ready to risk it alllllllll.”
In one viral post, fans were reminded that Isley’s handsomeness crosses generational lines. “Ron Isley is an old ohio player who turns 80 next month,” tweeted Brandon Caldwell. “…and has you, your aunt, your mom, and maybe your granny depending on generation wanting to throw panny drawls his way tonight.”
By his early teens, Isley was singing regularly with his brothers in church tours and also first appeared on TV on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour. In 1957, 16-year-old Isley and his two elder brothers O’Kelly and Rudy then 19 and 18 moved to New York to pursue a music career. While in New York, Isley and his brothers began recording doo-wop for local labels before landing a major deal with RCA Records in 1959, where the trio wrote and released their debut single “Shout”. By the summer of 1959, the Isley family had moved from Cincinnati to a home in Englewood, New Jersey.
Isley has been the Isley Brothers’ most longstanding member as well as the main lead vocalist, occasionally sharing with his older brothers. In 1969, Isley reformed T-Neck Records with his brothers 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 changed following the release of the 3 + 3 album where brothers Ernie Isley and Marvin Isley and in-law Chris Jasper joined the founding brothers’ full-time. The younger brothers had been providing instrumental help for the brothers since the late 1960s.
Isley was married to R&B great Angela Winbush for almost a decade, then found the love again in his background singer, Kandy Johnson, also known for the duo JS (Johnson Sisters).
After knowing each other for a little while, the pair decided to tie the knot in September 2005. Kandy was 28 and Ron was 64. That 35+ year age difference started people talking, but Kandy quickly shut down any “gold-digging” rumors.
She defended her romance and marriage explaining why she fell in love with him.
“[Ron Isley] is a GENTLEMAN! I mean, you’re talking about romance, he puts the ‘R’ in romance… from fine dining to treating a woman like a man should, with respect. As we developed a relationship, we had a lot of things in common and Ronald… even though he’s older, he’s young at heart.”
Kandy is mom to the couple’s only son, Ron Isley Jr who will be 14 this year.
In April 2010, Ron was finally released and, from that point on, he has been living a very good life with his family avoiding legal problems and enjoying the time with his son, who is 12 years old nowadays.
With 1983’s, “Between the Sheets”, a response to Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”, the band’s mastery of the form is on full display. In a 2013 interview with Ebony Magazine, Ron Isley said, “At the time, Marvin Gaye had ‘Sexual Healing’ out, and it was such a hit. I was talking to him on the phone one day and I was like, ‘Hey man, wait until you hear ‘Between the Sheets’. I said, ‘Wegoing to knock ‘Sexual Healing’ off.’ We just laughed. We were very competitive in those days. Somebody like Teddy Pendergrass would do ‘Close the Door’ or ‘Turn Off the Lights’, and we’d do something like ‘Don’t Say Goodnight.’”
Music historian Nelson George might have summed it up best when he wrote “When people talk about Sam, Marvin, Otis and Al as the greatest male soul me, folks forget Ron Isley because he was in a group. His vocal range, distinctiveness and sensuality are amazing. Dude is a peer of Sam Cooke and still sounds good!”
As we look back over the 4-hour, 25-round iconic battle, here are some of the most memorable rounds:
Round 3:
Isley Brothers – Hello It’s Me
Earth, Wind & Fire – Keep Your Head to the Sky
Round 4:
Isley Brothers – At Your Best (You Are Love)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Reasons
Round 6:
Isley Brothers – Groove With You
(List continues below)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Would You Mind
Round 7:
Isley Brothers – Summer Breeze
Earth, Wind & Fire – Be Ever Wonderful
Round 8:
Isley Brothers – It’s Your Thing
Earth, Wind & Fire – Devotion
Round 9:
Isley Brothers – Make Me Say
Earth, Wind & Fire – After the Love Has Gone
Round 10:
Isley Brothers – Footsteps in the Dark
Earth, Wind & Fire – Shining Star
Round 11:
Isley Brothers – Twist & Shout
Earth, Wind & Fire – Boogie Wonderland
Round 12:
Isley Brothers – Choosey Lover
Earth, Wind & Fire – On Your Face
Round 16:
Isley Brothers – Between the Sheets
Earth, Wind & Fire – Serpentine Fire
Round 18:
Isley Brothers – Don’t Say Goodnight (It’s Time for Love)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Can’t Hide Love
Round 21:
Isley Brothers – Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)
Earth, Wind & Fire – Mighty Mighty
Round 25:
Isley Brothers – That Lady
Earth, Wind & Fire – September
In March 2021, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz announced that they had sold the brand to Triller, with artists who had previously performed on VERZUZ receiving a financial stake in the new partnership. The next battle puts Method Man and Redman against each other for the “How High 4/20 Special” on April 20. Last month, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah went head to head for a Wu-Tang family showdown.
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