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.”
Young Isley
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.
Defending their relationship
She defended her romance and marriage explaining why she fell in love with him.