Aaron Neville: The Voice That Makes You Cry

The Voice That Makes You Cry

There is no voice in American popular music quite like Aaron Neville's. That smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor — floating somewhere between gospel and soul, between tenderness and power — is one of the most distinctive sounds any human being has ever produced. And it comes from the Third Ward of New Orleans.

Born in 1941 into the Neville family — the first family of New Orleans funk — Aaron grew up surrounded by music. His brothers Art, Charles, and Cyril would all become legendary musicians in their own right, and together the four of them would form the Neville Brothers, one of the most important groups in the city's history. But Aaron's solo career stands entirely on its own.

In 1966, he released "Tell It Like It Is," a ballad so perfectly sung that it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of the defining songs of the era. The song was eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It's the kind of record that stops you in your tracks — you hear that voice, and everything else falls away.

Four Grammy Awards followed, including wins for his duets with Linda Ronstadt that produced three consecutive platinum albums in the nineties. He performed the national anthem at Super Bowl XL alongside Aretha Franklin and Dr. John — three of the greatest voices in American music, together on the biggest stage in sports.

In 2023, at eighty-two years old, Neville won another Grammy for "Stompin' Ground," a collaboration with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Rolling Stone ranked him number 104 on their list of the greatest singers of all time, which, honestly, feels low.

Aaron Neville's voice is one of New Orleans' greatest gifts to the world — a sound that carries the weight of gospel, the sweetness of soul, and the complexity of a city that produces beauty from struggle. When he sings, New Orleans sings with him.