Art Neville Biography
Art Neville, full name, Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) was a New Orleans-born American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.
For more than five decades, Neville was a fixture on the New Orleans music scene. He founded the funk band The Meters, whose musical style defined New Orleans funk, was a co-founder of the rock-soul-jazz band The Neville Brothers, and later formed the spinoff group The Funky Meters.
Labelle (on “Lady Marmalade”), Paul McCartney, Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, Dr. John, and Professor Longhair were among the many artists he worked with in New Orleans and elsewhere. He received three Grammy nominations.
Art Neville Age at Death
Art was born on December 17, 1937, in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He died at the age of 81 years in 2019.
Art Neville Cause of Death
Neville died on July 22, 2019, due to advanced age and after years of declining health.
Art Neville Obituary
Art Neville was a keyboardist and singer who was a founding member of the Meters and the Neville Brothers. Neville, also known as “Poppa Funk,” was a fixture on the New Orleans music scene who helped shape the city’s signature sound.
The Meters, who formed in 1965, were among the funk pioneers, performing their own songs as well as backing artists such as Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, and Dr. John.
In 2018, they received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Neville and his brothers Aaron, Charles, and Cyril formed the Neville Brothers in 1977. “Sister Rosa” and “Healing Chant,” which won a Grammy Award in 1989, are two of their most well-known songs.
Later, Neville and some members of the original group formed the Funky Meters. He stayed with them until his retirement in late 2018.
Art Neville Wife and Children
Neville was married to Lorraine, with whom he had two children, Ian and Amelia. Arthel Neville, the son of Arthel and Doris Neville, is a journalist, television personality, and Fox News news anchor.
Ian Neville is a guitarist and founding member of the New Orleans-based funk and jam band Dumpstaphunk. He shared the stage with The Funky Meters, Slightly Stoopid, and Dr. Klaw on occasion.
Art Neville Career and Net Worth
Neville was raised in New Orleans. He was Amelia (Landry) and Arthur Neville Srson. .’s He began playing the piano at a young age and performed with his brothers.
He was influenced by James Booker, Bill Doggett, Booker T. Jones, Lloyd Glenn, and Professor Longhair’s R&B styles. He joined and later led The Hawketts in high school.
The band recorded “Mardi Gras Mambo” in 1954, with Neville on vocals. The song gained popularity and became a carnival anthem in New Orleans.
Larry Williams accompanied the band on tour. Neville was a regular performer in New Orleans before joining the United States Navy in 1958 and returning to music in 1962. In the 1950s and 1960s, he released several singles as a lead artist.
Neville formed the Neville Sounds in the early 1960s. His brothers Aaron and Cyril, as well as George Porter, Leo Nocentelli, and Ziggy Modeliste, were all members of the band.
Aaron and Cyril soon left the group to form their own band. The other four members continued to perform at the Nitecap and Ivanhoe nightclubs.
Many notable artists, including Lee Dorsey, Betty Harris, and The Pointer Sisters, were supported by the band. The band had a strong sense of groove, and unlike traditional groups, each instrument was free to take the lead and go wherever it wanted musically. Over time, the band’s sound came to be associated with New Orleans funk.
The band changed its name to The Meters in the late 1960s and released three instrumental albums. Compositions were initially created through live improvisation; however, this changed in the early 1970s.
The band rose to prominence in the rock music community, performing alongside musicians such as Paul McCartney, Robert Palmer, and The Rolling Stones.
The band released five more albums before disbanding in the late 1970s due to financial, managerial, and artistic issues. The band’s musical style emphasized rhythm over melody, and it had a lasting influence on upcoming musical styles such as hip-hop and jam bands such as Phish, Galactic, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The Neville Brothers were formed in 1978 by Neville and his brothers Cyril, Aaron, and Charles. Previously, the brothers collaborated on the album The Wild Tchoupitoulas. The Neville Brothers, the group’s debut album, was released in 1978.
According to Stephen Holden, a music critic, the Neville Brothers’ soul music style combines “funk, doo-wop, reggae, and salsa under the banner of New Orleans rhythm and blues.”
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the band released several albums, including Fiyo on the Bayou and Yellow Moon, as well as an album in 2004.
During this time, Neville played several shows with the original Meters bandmates, including a reunion at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 1989.
Neville, Porter, Nocentelli, and Russell Batiste formed The Funky Meters as a result of that performance. Brian Stoltz took over on guitar in 1994, replacing Nocentelli. Neville shared the stage with both The Neville Brothers and The Funky Meters.
Neville discussed the joys of live improvisation in a 1995 interview. “The best part, to me, is when the [rhythm] just evolves into some other stuff,” he said.
In 1989, Neville and The Neville Brothers won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In 1996, he and other artists won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “SRV Shuffle,” a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
In 1999, he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. As a member of The Meters, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
In the 2005 documentary film Make It Funky!, Neville serves as narrator, is interviewed on screen, and appears in performance footage. The film presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk, and jazz.
Neville announced his retirement from music in December 2018. He died on July 22, 2019, at the age of 81, in New Orleans, after years of failing health.
Lorraine, his wife of thirty-three years, three children, a sister, and his two brothers Aaron and Cyril survive him. The Recording Academy and Louisiana Governor John B. Edwards both issued statements honoring Neville’s contributions to New Orleans music.
Art Neville Net Worth at Death
Art Neville had an estimated net worth of $3 million at the time of his death, he had accumulated his net worth from his career as a singer, songwriter and keyboardist.
Neville was a staple of the New Orleans music scene for over five decades. He was the founder of the funk band The Meters whose musical style set the tone of New Orleans funk, a co-founder of the rock-soul-jazz band The Neville Brothers, and he later formed the spinoff group The Funky Meters.
