--- title: Irma Thomas Remembers Father of Funk Art Neville description: Papa Funk' Art Neville, who died July 22 at 81, led a group of musicians that everybody wanted to be. canonical: https://time.com/5634776/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville/ author: Irma Thomas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-25T10:18:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T00:04:35.583Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Irma Thomas Remembers Father of Funk Art Neville og:description: Neville died July 22 at 81 og:url: https://time.com/5634776/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2c4022c1db956c0/698a006b16d884edf0c36bbe/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Irma Thomas Remembers Father of Funk Art Neville twitter:description: Neville died July 22 at 81 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2c4022c1db956c0/698a006b16d884edf0c36bbe/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Irma Thomas Remembers Father of Funk Art Neville > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Irma Thomas](https://time.com/author/irma-thomas/) ## Irma Thomas Jul 25, 2019 10:18 AM UTC  “Wherever we had gigs where the Hawketts were the backup band, Art—who died July 22 at 81—was always the guy who wanted to get it right,” writes Grammy Award-winning singer Irma Thomas. “Wherever we had gigs where the Hawketts were the backup band, Art—who died July 22 at 81—was always the guy who wanted to get it right,” writes Grammy Award-winning singer Irma Thomas.Erika Goldring—Getty Images by [Irma Thomas](https://time.com/author/irma-thomas/) ## Irma Thomas Jul 25, 2019 10:18 AM UTC Before the Neville Brothers became a group, Art Neville had his own little group called the Hawketts. This was back in the 1950s, and I was basically just getting started. Artists like me, who didn’t have their own bands, would work with various groups around New Orleans. Wherever we had gigs where the Hawketts were the backup band, Art–who died on July 22 at 81–was always the guy who wanted to get it right. They were a very popular local group in Louisiana, and over the years I watched him grow. He led a group of musicians that everybody wanted to be. His music–with the Neville Brothers, the Meters, the Hawketts–has been sampled and copied by many. It was funky; that’s why they called him Papa Funk. I can explain it a thousand times, but unless you get what funk is, you won’t understand. It’s a real good-feeling type of music that makes you want to move and dance. And there is no music called soul or funk that Art Neville and his brothers didn’t contribute to in some way. _Thomas is a Grammy Award–winning singer_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5634776/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5634776/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville/"},"headline":"Irma Thomas Remembers Father of Funk Art Neville","datePublished":"2019-07-25T10:18:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T00:04:35.583Z","description":"Papa Funk' Art Neville, who died July 22 at 81, led a group of musicians that everybody wanted to be.","url":"https://time.com/5634776/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2c4022c1db956c0/698a006b16d884edf0c36bbe/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Irma Thomas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/irma-thomas/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2c4022c1db956c0/698a006b16d884edf0c36bbe/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville","caption":"“Wherever we had gigs where the Hawketts were the backup band, Art—who died July 22 at 81—was always the guy who wanted to get it right,” writes Grammy Award-winning singer Irma Thomas.","creditText":"Erika Goldring—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/music/","name":"Music"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5634776/irma-thomas-remembers-art-neville/","name":"Irma Thomas Remembers Father of Funk Art Neville"}}]}] ```