I had the distinct pleasure to speak with R&B Soul legend, Ronald Isley. He is looking forward to his new album, “This Song Is For You” which is set to be released on July 16th 2013. The album is almost a walk down memory lane with a new modern twist that made music lovers fall in love with him 5 decades ago. Not many artists have been fortunate to have a long and successful career as Mr. Isley, and he proves that he still has it with his new single, “Dinner and a Movie” which was the number one most added at urban AC radio last week.

He started out with his brothers as the Isley brothers, with classic hits such as Shout” in 1959, “It’s Your Thing,” “Twist and Shout,” “This Old Heart of Mine,” and more. Mr. Isley also shares a great history with R. Kelly, who produced and wrote material for Isley in the mid ‘90s and early ‘00s. Isley also sang hooks on tracks for R. Kelly, as well as hip-hop acts such as Warren G., 2Pac and UGK. His fans can expect a tour this summer with Frankie Beverly and Kem. Check out my full interview with Mr. Isley below:

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How are you?

Ron Isley: “I’m doing really well…I’m fantastic.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): Congratulations, on 50 years in this industry.

Ron Isley: “I’ve been blessed, and that always feels great…The Lord has blessed us with making music because that is our life and he have so much fun making music.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How are your brothers?

Ron Isley: “They are fine, Rudolph is in the ministry with his wife, and my other brother is here in St. Louis and he is on the road with me, and he is doing very well…We are doing this music, traveling, and performing. Our lives are about going, traveling, and performing…we love it.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How do you find the energy?

Ron Isley: “I just love it so much…I’m always thinking about what we’re going to do next week, next year, and what’s coming next…It’s a great feeling for us.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How do you want people to remember your music and legacy?

Ron Isley: “It’s a God blessing, and I want people to know that everything that we have done is just a gift from God to be able to do it…It feels good when the fans expect great music from us and so it’s a commitment, and it’s even greater to fulfill that commitment when I can…I’m thankful that God has blessed me and my brothers.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How is the family, your beautiful wife, and children?

Ron Isley: “We are fine, we just got back from New Orleans…we had a great trip, we love New Orleans.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): You recently celebrated a birthday, how was that for you?

Ron Isley: “My mother in-law was here in St. Louis and we went out to a special restaurant here, had a great dinner with a few of my great friends, it was very nice.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): What inspired/motivated you to get back into the studio?

Ron Isley: “I started off thinking that the business is so different now, I want to make twelve songs and each one of these songs have to be a single record and had to be successful if released as a single…I love this album and it is one of my greatest. The duet I do with Kem is just a smash as well as the one I did with Trey Songz, it goes back to that feeling of my duets with R. Kelly.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How has it been to work with EOne Music?

Ron Isley: “It has been very good, we’re still at the beginning, and the single is performing well on the charts and it’s only been out for a few weeks.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): When working on a new album, what is the creative/collaboration process like for you?

Ron Isley: “Me and Kem have been talking about this for a year, and he wanted it to be a special song, and I wanted to be able to perform this song and make it special.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): The new single, “Dinner and a Movie” is great, how do you always manage to incorporate the art of storytelling in your songs?

Ron Isley: “We just wanted it to be that way, but the producers and the directors really make it happen, and this song tells such a story with the concept of taking a girl out to a dinner and a movie…I’m just very fortunate to be able to combine the music and the storytelling to the screen.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): Was it your idea to have your wife as your leading lady in the video?

Ron Isley: “Oh yeah (laughs), it was my idea…We had such a fun time shooting it, and it was exciting for us to do it.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How would you describe your new album, “This Song Is For You?”

Ron Isley: “I would say that it is one of my best! I can’t wait until they have the Grammy’s this year, and I can’t wait to be there…It’s a special feeling, that I just have with this album.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): How did the collaboration with Trey Songz come about?

Ron Isley: “Working with Trey, I didn’t want to do a song where we were just singing…I wanted our record to be special…I know a lot of people wondered why we were collaborating, but I wanted it to have that feel of when I worked with R. Kelly…Trey and I are friends and he wrote the song, and once I heard it, I fell in love with it. The Lord answers your prayers and makes things exciting and that’s what it was for me…I have a great feeling about songs, and this song brought back feelings of songs like, “It’s Your Thing,” “Shout,” and “In Between the Sheets.” These are songs that are still being performed.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): What do you think it takes for an artist today to have longevity in this industry?

Ron Isley: “I would try to pass on to them to have faith, and love what they are doing. Everyone is so competitive. I want to perform songs that everyone enjoys and everyone wants to be the first to do something, but if you’re not then it can set that artist back…when that happened with us, it motivated us to go back and try harder.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): What can you tell us about your upcoming tour with Frankie Beverly and Kem?

Ron Isley: “We are going to have fun! Frankie has an hell of a show, and Kem and I will be able to do this duet as it will be our next single coming out. I know Kem wasn’t thinking about doing a tour right now, but I talked him into doing this and I really can’t wait for this and perform for our fans.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): What is one of your favorite songs to perform?

Ron Isley: “I have to do certain songs like, “Fight The Power,” “It’s Your Thing,” “Summer Breeze,” and “Shout” and now with this album I’m going to have twelve more songs to add to this list and have fun performing.”

Examiner (Anthony Bowles): Lastly, what do you want to tell your fans?

Ron Isley: “I can’t wait to see my fans this summer and I hope they are having and enjoying a Dinner & a Movie and thank you so much for sticking with the Isley’s and I really can’t wait to see them all and for them to enjoy this album as much as I enjoyed making it.”

Keep up with updates from Mr. Isley on Twitter @TheRealRonIsley and pick up the new album July 16th, “This Song Is For You.” and check out for dates of his summer tour!

Official Track-listing:
1. “This Song is For You”
2. “Dinner and a Movie”
3. “My Favorite Thing” featuring Kem
4. “The Boss”
5. “Bed Time”
6. “Another Night”
7. “Lay you Down” [intro]
8. “Lay You Down” featuring Trey Songz
9. “Reunion”
10. “He Won’t Ever Love You”
11. “Better or Worse”
12. “Let’s Be Alone”
13. “Make Love to Your Soul”