Chris Jasper, the singer–songwriter who helped transform the Isley Brothers from a vocal trio into a hit-making juggernaut in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at 73.
Jasper’s family announced on Facebook on Monday that he had died on Sunday, February 23.
According to their statement, the keyboardist had been diagnosed with cancer in December 2024.
Jasper, who joined the Isley Brothers in 1973, ‘transformed’ the group ‘from a vocal trio into a self-contained six member R&B/Funk group,’ his family said in its announcement.
The group, which was founded in the mid-1950s by vocalists O’Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley, became a full-fledged band with the addition of their younger brothers Ernie Isley on lead guitar and drums, Marvin Isley on electric bass and guitar, and Jasper on keyboards.
In 1983, Jasper and the two younger Isleys split from the group and performed as Isley–Jasper–Isley from 1984 through 1987, while the three older Isley members continued to perform as the Isley Brothers.
Chris Jasper, the singer–songwriter who helped transform the Isley Brothers from a vocal trio into a hit-making juggernaut in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at 73; pictured in 2014 in LA
Jasper, whose family announced he died on Sunday, February 23, joined the Isley Brothers as a keyboardist and songwriter in 1973, as the group transformed from a vocal trio into a full band; Jasper (L) pictured performing with the Isley Brothers in 1981 in Niles, Ill.
Jasper — who had recorded occasional instrumental parts on earlier Isley Brothers tunes — became a full-fledged songwriter for the band after becoming an official member.
He is credited with helping to write most of the group’s monster hits from the ’70s and ’80s, including Fight The Power, The Pride and Footsteps in the Dark, which has been sampled numerous times, most famously for Ice Cube’s hit It Was A Good Day.
‘His songwriting talent and expertise on keyboards and synthesizers became the cornerstone of the group’s signature sound,’ Jasper’s family wrote in its announcement of his death.
Jasper, who studied classic music as a child, grew up in Cincinnati and later moved to New York City to study composition at the Juilliard School of Music, before moving on to C.W. Post, Long Island University, where he studied jazz with the esteemed pianist Billy Taylor.
He had a lifelong connection to the Isleys, as his family lived in the same Cincinnati apartment complex, and he became an in-law after his older sister Elaine married Rudolph Isley.
As a teenager, Jasper formed a trio with the younger Isleys, Ernie and Marvin.
While the three were attending college together, they were also working as the touring band for the Isley Brothers and working on studio sessions for the group when it was still just a vocal trio.
Although his appeared as a sideman on Isley Brothers albums as early as the late 1960s, it wasn’t until 1972’s Brother, Brother, Brother that Jasper earned his first credit on one of the band’s songs — for Love Put Me On The Corner.
In 1983, Jasper (center) and the late-joining brothers Ernie (L) and Marvin Isley (R) split from the group and performed as Isley–Jasper–Isley (pictured) from 1984 through 1987, while the three older Isley members continued to perform as the Isley Brothers
