Marvin Isley, a bassist who provided the foundation for his family’s hit-making R&B band, the Isley Brothers, died on Sunday at a hospice near his home in Chicago. He was 56.
Marvin Isley had fought diabetes for more than 20 years and in 1997 lost his legs to the disease.
Marvin Isley was born in Cincinnati on Aug. 18, 1953, the youngest son of O’Kelly and Sally Isley. Besides his brothers Ernie, Ronald and Rudolph, he is survived by his wife, the former Sheila Felton; a son, Corey; and two daughters, Sidney and Jalen.