LEGENDARY GROUP GOING AT IT

So, the group who brought us "Between the Sheets" "It's Your Thing" and many more classic hits are going to court over the trademark rights to the name. The group's lead vocalist, Ronald Isley. Nicknamed "Mr. Biggs" co-founded the legendary soul group with his brothers, Ernie, O'Kelly, Chris, Vernon, Marvin, and Rudolph, in the 1950s. Unfortunately, the three brothers have passed (O'Kelly, Marvin & Vernon), and two left the group in the 80s (Chris & Rudolph), while Ronald and Ernie continue to record music under the family name.
 

THE MUSIC BUSINESS 

It's crazy to see a group composed of family members go at it over money but it's the music business, not anything else. The bottom line is everybody wants to be compensated properly. Rudolph once shared lead vocals with Ronald, and he was an essential part of their imprint with Sony Music called T-Neck Records. According to reports, he has filed a lawsuit against Ronald, alleging that his younger brother obtained exclusive control of the group's name and trademarks while benefiting from the residuals without his inclusion or content.  Rudolph has also indicated that proceeds of the group's earnings were supposed to have been split between him and Ronald evenly with the passing of their other brother O'Kelly. Rudolph is now looking for backpay and things are getting a bit messy. In the suit, Rudolph told the court that Ronald successfully applied for the trademark to the name The Isley Brothers last summer, and has since collected all of the profits. Rudolph said in legal docs that Ronald made business transactions without his knowledge that potentially cost him money.