The Neville Brothers: New Orleans' First Family of Funk

The Neville Brothers: New Orleans' First Family of Funk

The Neville Brothers — Art, Charles, Aaron, and Cyril — were born and raised in the Valence Street neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans. Together, they represented the full spectrum of the city's musical genius: Art's keyboard mastery with The Meters, Aaron's impossibly beautiful tenor voice, Charles's adventurous saxophone, and Cyril's percussive energy and activist spirit. They were a family band in the truest sense — four brothers who could have each been solo stars but chose to make music together.

Art Neville, born in 1937, was the eldest and the foundation. He co-founded The Meters and later anchored the Neville Brothers with the same deep groove that made The Meters legendary. Aaron Neville, born in 1941, had a voice that defied explanation — a high, sweet tenor emerging from a man built like a linebacker, with a delivery that could make the roughest room go silent. "Tell It Like It Is" in 1966 went to number one on the R&B chart and became his signature. Charles Neville, born in 1938, brought a jazz sensibility and world music influence that broadened the band's palette. Cyril Neville, born in 1948, was the youngest, the firebrand, and the conscience of the group.

Yellow Moon and Beyond

The Neville Brothers' album Yellow Moon in 1989, produced by Daniel Lanois, is one of the great New Orleans recordings — atmospheric, soulful, and deeply rooted in the city's spiritual traditions. Their live performances at Jazz Fest were events unto themselves — annual homecomings that drew tens of thousands of people.

Art Neville died in 2019. Charles Neville died in 2018. The surviving brothers continue to perform and create. The Neville Brothers represent something unique in American music: a family that embodied an entire city's musical identity. When people talk about the New Orleans sound, they're talking about what the Nevilles played.