Born Ernest Isley in Cincinnati, Ohio USA on 7 March 1952, he is a musician accomplished in playing electric, acoustic and bass guitars, as well as being a drummer and percussionist for the band called The Isley Brothers, of which he has been an active member since 1973.
So how rich is Ernie Isley? Sources estimate that Isley’s net worth stands at $2 million as of early 2017, with the main part of his wealth having come from his long-lasting musical career.
Ernie Isley Net Worth $2 Million
Ernie Isley is the son of Kelly and Sallye Bernice Isley. In 1954, his older brothers O’Kelly Jr., Rudolph and Ronald started The Isley Brothers, a gospel band in the beginning, then as a singing ensemble. In 1960 the Isleys relocated to Englewood, New Jersey, at which time The Isleys had already developed a tight vocal unit, with Rudolph and O’Kelly supporting Ronald’s strident tenor leads in a call-and-response style taken directly from the church. However, from 1963 to 1965 Ernie Isley was in the company of Jimi Hendrix, who had lived in the home of the Isley family and occasionally played guitar for the Isley Brothers. The time spent with Hendrix later proved to be a keypoint in his career: he took the veteran R&B group into a more rocking direction, earning 11 gold and five platinum albums.
Influenced by his musical surroundings, Ernie also became a musician, starting to play the drums at the age of 12; his first live performance for the band was in 1966 at the age of 14. He is a self-taught musician – Isley played the electric guitar, acoustic guitar and drums on the albums that The Isley Brothers released in the early 1970s – “Get Into Something”, “Givin’ It Back” and “Brother, Brother, Brother”. In 1973 he fully joined the band, becoming a multi-instrumentalist. Ernie is a fruitful songwriter, penning multiple songs performed by the band, some of them being “Fight the Power” (Part 1 & 2), “Harvest for the World”, “Voyage to Atlantis”, “You Are Love”, “Footsteps In the Dark”, “Brown Girl” among others.
In 1984, he started the group Isley-Jasper-Isley, together with his brother Marvin and Chris Jasper, and they released the album called “Caravan of Love”. In 1990, Ernie Isley recorded his first album as a solo musician, called “High Wire”, rejoining Ronald and Marvin back in the band only a year later. Nowadays, Ernie and Ronald work and tour together as The Isley Brothers. He was inaugurated into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a part of the band. As something of a tribute, Fender Custom Shop has built three custom Zeal Stratocasters for him, using his personal design.
In his personal life, Ernie is married to Tracy, and they have a daughter. They now reside in St. Louis, Missouri. Ernie has done some teaching as a mentor in schools, and participated in various community programs. He has been a recurring guest professor at Berklee School of Music in Boston.
