Cyril Neville Plays The Dead

CYRIL NEVILLE, the Uptown Ruler, brings a lifetime of dreams come true. This two-time grammy winning icon is brilliant and beautiful on stage and in his recorded work. In this new chapter of his creative life, Cyril levels up even more with new songs, a fresh perspective on his decares of performance worldwide and a determined eye on the future. As Quint Davis, fonder and head of the new Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival watching Mr. Neville perform at the 2025 Jazz Fest Congo Square Stage said,” He’s still got it.”

Cyril Neville is one of the founding fathers of the New Orleans signature funky soul, rock jazz sound that has influenced countless artists and entertained millions of fans over his 5- decade career. Mr. Neville is a vocalist, songwriter, percussionist, painter, cultural icon and activist who richly deserves his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Born in 1948 in New Orleans, the youngest of the Neville Brothers was raised in a musical household, with his brothers Aaron, Art and Charles all making waves on the local musical scene. Their uncle George Landry was Big Chief Jolly of the Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indian Tribe, and young Cyril cut his teeth singing and playing percussion with the group. At 19, he joined his brother’s band, Art Neville and the Neville Sounds, and released his first single a year later.

Art’s band soon merged into the seminal group, The Meters, with Cyril, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter, Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste. Their early releases – the singles “Sissy Strut, “Look-A-Py-Py” and “Sophisticated Sissy,” as well as the Cabbage Alley and the Neville Brothers Fire on the Bayou have become classics, and their funky grooves built a foundation for a large swath of today’s American popular music. The Meter’s reputation was cemented when the Rolling Stones offered them an opening spot on their 1975 world tour.

Art and Cyril left The Meters in 1977, and with Aaron and Charles formed the Neville Brothers. For 35 years the group rocked audiences from Tipitinas in New Orleans to Taipei playing venues all over the world with their imminently danceable funk rock. Their recordings such as the Grammy-winning Yellow Moon and equally successful follow-up Brother’s Keeper have entered the canon of classic American Music. The Neville Brothers have received four nominations to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and hopefully one day will receive their long overdue flowers there.

One of Cyril’s current projects includes touring with his son’s band, Omari Neville and the Fuel, but he can also be heard performing with fellow Meter Goerge Porter, Jr, Trombone Shorty and his nephew Ivan Neville’s band Dumpstafunk.

Mr. Neville has had a number of other musical projects over the years, including The Endangered Species Band, and the Uptown All Stars as well as Swamp Funk. After Hurricane Katrina, bluesman Tab Benoit formed the supergroup Voice of the Wetlands to advocate for coastal protections with Cyril Neville front and center stage. Mr. Neville has also has also toured singing with the funk powerhouse Galactic. In 2011 Mr. Neville formed his own supergroup, Royal Southern Brotherhood, with Devon Allman, Mike Zito, Charlie Wooten and Yonrico Scott.

Mr. Neville has recorded with a Who’s Who of the rock world including Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, Branford Marsalis, and Carlos Santana. He is a prolific writer, co-authoring songs with Bono, Allen Toussant, Trombone Shorty and Taj Mahal among many. Mr. Neville has made a number of television appearances including Saturday Night Live, NCIS: New Orleans and HBO’s Treme. For many hears he also operated his own Endangered Species record label. Now he works closely with senior manager Lara Lavi and her production company Dreaming In Color Entertainment to release new music including his latest single “Lemonade,” co-written with and produced by renowned trumpet player Shamarr Allen releasing in July 2025.

Cyril Neville has collected many accolades over the course of his 50 years plus career, including a Grammy award for the song, “Healing Chant” from the 1989 album, Yellow Moon produced by Daniel Lanois. In 2017, The Neville Brothers received the Austin City Limits Lifetime Achievement Award and a year later, The Meters were honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Perhaps Mr. Neville’s greatest joy is singing, recording and performing with his son Omari Neville whose band Omari Neville and the Fuel tours as Omari’s backup band. With refreshed management and talent agency, Cyril Neville is highly prolific and unstoppable in this next phase of his career with new music releasing monthly for the army of fans of the Wild Tchoupitoulas, Meters, Uptown Ruler, Neville Brothers and fans of New Orleans music and culture.