Aaron Neville

BORN - 24 January 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana

American soul and R&B singer

Aaron Neville has had a career as a solo artist and also as one of the Neville Brothers.

Aaron is noted for his unusual vibrato singing style, which he says was inspired 17117x2317r by Gene Autry's yodelling.

With his solo career, Neville is best known for his Grammy-winning duets with Linda Ronstadt, "Don't Know Much" and "All My Life," as well as his first - and to date his biggest - hit, 's "Tell It Like It Is," which was successfully covered by Heart in . His other hits have included "Everybody Plays The Fool," his successful cover of the Main Ingredient soul classic; "Don't Take Away My Heaven"; and "Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You (The Rain Song)." Neville's biggest solo successes have been on the Adult Contemporary chart, where "Don't Know Much," "All My Life," and "Everybody Plays The Fool" all reached Number One.

Neville's son Ivan Neville is also a musician and released an album, If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, in , which yielded a Top 40 hit with "Not Just Another Girl." Ivan has also performed with the Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, and played bass for Keith Richards on his first solo tour.

In August 2005 his home in New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; he evacuated to Memphis, Tennessee before the hurricane hit. Neville performed Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" during NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief on September 2, .

Trivia

Aaron Neville has a sword tattooed on his left cheek as well as others on more conventional, covered parts of his body.

Neville is a practicing Roman Catholic with a deep, undying devotion to St. Jude, whom he credits with "saving" his life through his most difficult times.

Although Aaron Neville is often compared to singer Sam Cooke in terms of sheer vocal refinement, he has a voice and style uniquely his own. He is well known as part of the New Orleans sound of the Neville Brothers. Yet, aside from the 1967 number one R&B hit "Tell It Like It Is," few have heard his incredible early solo recordings. Many of the first recordings of Neville, in the early and mid-'60s, were arranged, produced, and often written by the brilliant Allen Toussaint -- another talent only later being really appreciated. Most of these sides were cut for the Minit and, later, Parlo labels. Songs like "She Took You for a Ride" and "You Think You're So Smart" on Parlo are masterpieces. While his more recent work, including that with Linda Ronstadt, makes for pleasant listening, it lacks the sheer persuasion of his early songs. Neville has re-recorded his early work often, and it is important to hear the originals. The early sides are just waiting to be heard.

Neville has ventured more into other waters besides R&B. 1993's The Grand Tour included a remake of a George Jones song that got Neville a little country attention, and he announced plans in 1994 to do a complete country album. He was also one of several R&B artists who teamed with country stars for the Rhythm Country and Blues session. Neville was paired with Trisha Yearwood, and the duo also performed together in a benefit concert for the LP held in Los Angeles in April 1994. The LP made history by debuting in the Top Ten on the pop, R&B, and country charts. Tattooed Heart appeared in 1995 and To Make Me Who I Am in 1997 on A&M Records. Increasingly Neville was drawn to his gospel roots, and the influence of the genre shows in his solo projects. Devotion and Believe were released in 2000 and 2003 respectively by Tellit Records. Nature Boy: The Standards Album came out on Verve in 2002 and the holiday album Christmas Prayer was issued by EMI Gospel in 2005. Neville kicked off the next year by singing the national anthem at Superbowl XL, followed by the release of Mojo Soul, a collection of some of his singles from the late-'60s and early-70s with producers Marshall Sehorn and Alain Toussaint, and Bring It on Home... The Soul Classics, which featured guests Chaka Khan and Mavis Staples, among others. ~ Michael Erlewine and Ron Wynn, All Music Guide