Art Neville celebrates his 75th birthday at Tipitina’s, 2013. Photo by Dino Perrucci

 

81-year-old keyboardist Art Neville has announced that he will retire from performing.

Also known as Poppa Funk, the New Orleans mainstay is best known for his role as a founding member of funk innovators The Meters and The Neville Brothers. His voice and keyboard sounds are immortalized on famous tunes like “Hey Pocky A-Way,” “Fire on the Bayou” and “People Say.”

In recent years, while his brothers and former bandmates like George Porter Jr., Aaron Neville, Cyril Neville and Zigaboo Modeliste continued to perform on a fairly regular basis, Art has been plagued by health issues ranging from a back injury to, reportedly, a stroke. He hasn’t taken the stage publicly in over a year, and second-generation keyboardist Ivan Neville (son of Aaron) has often been called upon to fill his slot for gigs like the Foundations of Funk collective, which celebrated The Meters 50th anniversary this summer.

In 2017, The original Meters lineup cancelled a pair of San Francisco shows after Art fell ill and couldn’t travel.

“Without Art, these shows would not be The Meters,” George Porter Jr. said of the band’s decision to cancel the two-night stand. More recently, in an interview with Jambands.com about his Foundation of Funk project with Modeliste, Porter spoke briefly on Art’s impending retirement as it relates to a future outing for the original Meters quartet, saying, “I don’t think that the original four guys would ever be seen again, because I think Art is pretty much done. I don’t believe his health would allow that to happen.”

And while Art Neville may retire from the stage, he will remain a pivotal figure in the New Orleans and the live music scene.