Cyril Neville

CYRIL NEVILLE with Omari Neville & The Fuel, bring 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 decades of performance worldwide and a determined eye on the future. As Quint Davis, fonder and head of the new Orleans Jazz andHeritage Festival watching Mr. Neville perform at the 2025 JazzFest 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, bassistGeorge Porter, Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste. Their early releases – the singles “Sissy Strut, “Look-A-Py-Py” and “Sophisticated Sissy,” as well as the CabbageAlley 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 years 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, UptownRuler, Neville Brothers and fans of New Orleans music and culture.

King Youngblood is focused on reclaiming rock music, specifically black-fronted rock packed with strong songwriting, AFROPUNK attitude and an undeniable exhilarating live show.  Alternative Press calls King Youngblood “Seattle’s Alt Rock Princes” – and the Pacific Northwest fans have consistently agreed. Founder and frontman Cameron Lavi-Jones, along with, drummer Paul Stoot, cellist Chet Peterson, and bassist Samy Garcia have a singular mission: grab heavy guitar/drums rock by the collar and drag it into the willing arms of the fresh new generation of fans currently fueling the world-wide resurgence of rock music. The world agrees with affirming descriptions including AFROPUNK Magazine in October 2022 declaring “King Youngblood’s skill at transforming a small phrase into a massive hook is at this point unparalleled in the world of heavy but melodic music.”

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Their 2022 year was an explosive breakout year with their critically acclaimed album Big Thank released in May 2022.  It was no wonder the Seattle Times listed King Youngblood in the top 20 albums of 2022 and the regional press and PNW fans have been eagerly awaiting their new album Out Run Your Shadow slated for a 2025 release later this year.    

King Youngblood is the founder and centerpiece of the Black and Loud National Tour and Festival in partnership with Black and Loud’s title sponsor Jack Daniel’s and Ariel Rider Ebikes.  The annual and most recent Black and Loud Fest was September 14, 2024, in Seattle, WA with a full building takeover of the Crocodile – and was a great success for attendance, diversity, and critical acclaim - https://www.musicconnection.com/live-review-king-youngblood/ Now Lavi-Jones is leading the way with Jack Daniel’s taking the Black and Loud brand and mission national.  

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Incessant national touring, a comic book series called Afrothunda depicting King Youngblood as rockers and superheroes from “Planet Xenon,” plus the AfroThunda Soundtrack released October 28, 2022, with Volume 2 coming out in Spring 2025, and more music videos and unique merchandise all are part of the cavalcade of activity erupting from King Youngblood.