The O’Jays
Eddie Levert (born June 16, 1942)
Walter Lee Williams (born August 25, 1943)
William Powell (January 20, 1942 – May 26, 1977)
Bobby Massey (born 1942)
Bill Isles (January 4, 1941 – March 25, 2019)
The O’Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O’Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hit “Lonely Drifter” in 1963, but reached their greatest level of success once Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters, signed them to their Philadelphia International label in 1972. With Gamble & Huff, the O’Jays (now a trio after the departure of Isles and Massey) emerged at the forefront of Philadelphia soul with “Back Stabbers” (1972), and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year with “Love Train”. Several other US R&B hits followed, and the O’Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
On June 28, 2009, at the 2009 BET Award Show in the Shrine Auditorium, the O’Jays were honored with BET’s 2009 Life Time Achievement Award. Tevin Campbell, Trey Songz, Tyrese Gibson, and Johnny Gill performed a medley of the group’s songs, followed by the presentation of the award by Don Cornelius. The group reminisced, joked with the audience, and accepted their award before performing renditions of their hit songs.
On October 30, 2010, the group performed at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C. In Cleveland, Ohio, on August 17, 2013, the O’Jays were inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame The O’Jays are also two-time Grammy Hall of Fame Inductees for their songs “Love Train” (inducted 2006) and “For the Love of Money” (inducted 2016).
Bill Isles (born William Caravan Isles II in McAdenville, North Carolina) died on March 25, 2019, at the age of 78.