NEW ORLEANS (CelebrityAccess) — Art “Poppa Funk” Neville, a prominent figure in the New Orleans music scene, announced that after 65 years of writing, recording and touring, he’s hanging it up.
Neville, who performed as one of the famed Neville Brothers, also co-founded two other noted New Orleans bands — The Meters and the funky METERS.
funky METERS with Ivan Neville on keyboards played their last show of 2018 this past Sunday (December 16) in Santa Rosa, CA at the Emerald Cup Festival (other acts include Margo Price, STS9 and Big Gigantic).
Neville said he hopes the band will continue past his retirement through 2019 and beyond in order to mark their 25th anniversary.
Over the course of his career, Neville has collaborated with who’s who of NOLA musicians that includes George Porter Jr. Allen Toussaint, Leo Nocentelli, John Boudreaux, Dr. John., Professor Longhair, and Ziggy Modeliste.
He’s also been featured on recordings with numerous artists outside of New Orleans, including Labelle, Robert Palmer, Paul McCartney, The Pointer Sisters, and Lee Dorsey.
In the past 18 years, Neville’s band The Meters have made a number of appearances together as a group, including sold-out performances at iconic venues such as the Warfield Theater, and the Hollywood Bowl, as well as major modern festivals, including Bonnaroo, Coachella, and of course, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Over the course of his storied career, Neville earned an impressive collection of Grammy Awards, including earlier this year when he was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Recording Academy, as well as the prestigious NAACP Image Award.
Neville thanks “the fans for all the wonderful years of support…” and “for letting us share our music with the world”…”my uncle, George “Big Chief Jolly” Landry, The Neville Brothers, Charles, who passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer, Cyril and Aaron and my late mother, Amelia “Mommie” and my late father, Arthur Neville, Sr. “Poppie”
