Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley Return with ‘Baby Makin’ Music’

(January 30, 2006 – New York, NY) “Just Came
Here to Chill,” produced by Troy Taylor (who has produced for
Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Trey Songz, and Yolanda Adams) and
Gordon Chambers (producer for Whitney Houston, Brandy and Aretha
Franklin) is the lead single from BABY MAKIN’ MUSIC. The album
also features production by a slew of some of today’s hottest
R&B producers, including Jermaine Dupri (mega-producer for
multi-platinum artists, such as Mariah Carey and Usher), Tim and Bob
(the music masterminds behind new R&B sensation, Bobby Valentino)
and Manuel Seal, Jr. (co-produced Mariah Carey’s “We
Belong Together” and Usher’s smash hit, “My
Boo” with Alicia Keys).

BABY MAKIN’
MUSIC follows up the May 2003 release of the Isley Brothers’
album Body Kiss (Dreamworks), an RIAA gold #1 Pop/ #1 R&B
collaboration with younger brother Ernie Isley. Produced (and mostly
written) by R. Kelly, the album featured Ronald’s alter ego
‘Mr. Biggs’ on the pop/R&B crossover hit, “What
Would You Do?” (Mr. Biggs was first introduced on the Isley
Brothers’ 2001 Dreamworks album Eternal, featuring the
pop/R&B crossover hit, “Contagious,” also written and
produced by R. Kelly.)

Later on in November
2003, Isley Meets Bacharach (also Dreamworks), featured Ronald in a
full program of the songwriter’s hits, produced, arranged and
conducted by Burt Bacharach. At the 2003 American Music Awards, the
Isley Brothers won for Favorite Band, Duo or Group. The following
year, the Isley Brothers received the Lifetime Achievement Award at
the annual BET Awards gala. To date, the Isley Brothers have seven #1
R&B career hit singles to their credit, and five top 10 pop
hits.

The Isley Brothers vocal group was formed
in Cincinnati in 1955. The original recording lineup included Ronald
and older brothers O’Kelly and Rudolph (a fourth brother,
Vernon, died in the ’50s). Today, the Isley Brothers remain one
of a handful of acts to chart success¬fully in every decade of the
modern era, starting with their perennial anthem “Shout”
in 1959.

The ’60s began with another
anthem, 1962’s “Twist And Shout.” The Isleys went
on to score with “This Old Heart Of Mine” (1966, their
first Tamla/Motown hit), and the massive “It’s Your
Thing.” The R&B Grammy Award-winning #1 R&B/ #2 pop hit
single launched their self-owned T-Neck label in 1969, and introduced
younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and in-law Chris Jasper into the
lineup.

T-Neck went on to chart more than 20
pop titles in the ’70s (and nearly twice that many on the
R&B side), a litany of hits that included “Love The One
You’re With” (later remade by Stephen Stills),
“Spill The Wine” (remade by Eric Burdon & War),
“That Lady,” “Summer Breeze,” “Fight The
Power Part 1,” “For the Love Of You,” “The
Pride,” “Take Me To the Next Phase,” and “I
Wanna Be With You,” to name a few.

The
’80s began with “Don’t Say Goodnight (It’s
Time For Love)” and “Hurry Up And Wait,” followed by
“Inside You” and “Smooth Sailin’
Tonight.” In 1986, O’Kelly passed away, and Rudolph
subsequently retired to the ministry. The ‘Isley Brothers
Featuring Ronald Isley’ returned in 1990, and all six members
were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame two years later.
Ronald also introduced the famed Johnson Sisters vocal duo in 1992.
The ’90s were marked by a number of collaborations – with
Angela Winbush (“Lay Your Troubles Down”), Bobby Womack,
Quincy Jones (on his Q’s Jook Joint album, 1995), and R.
Kelly’s #1 R&B/ #4 Pop smash of 1996, “Down Low
(Nobody Has To Know).”

1996 also brought
the Isley Brothers – Ronald, Marvin and Ernie – to Island
Records for the first time, on Mission To Please. Contributing as
producers and (co-)writers were Babyface, R. Kelly and Keith Sweat,
three of the many artists whose lives and music were inspired by the
Isley Brothers, whose lineup now comprises Ronald and Ernie, an
accomplished songwriter, guitarist and vocalist in his own right.
From Mission To Please to Eternal to Body Kiss – the saga
continues, as BABY MAKIN’ MUSIC celebrates the return of the
Isley Brothers to the Island Def Jam Music Group. The long-awaited
return
to
center-stage for Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Ronald Isley aka
‘Mr. Biggs’ has finally arrived. BABY MAKIN’ MUSIC,
by the Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley aka ‘Mr.
Biggs,’ their first album for Def Jam’s Def Soul Recordings,
will hit the stores on March 7th.