Verne Allison

Verne Allison was born on 22 June 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago, where he became friends with Marvin Junior, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale and the brothers Michael and Lucius McGill. Inspired by The Spaniels, the R&B pioneers from Gary, Indiana, the friends began singing together in the early 1950s as the El-Rays. According to Mickey McGill, they performed The Mills Brothers' version of "Till Then" at Thornton's Gym Jam in 1952, and sang at house parties and under the viaduct at 147th Street and Robey, which provided a natural echo chamber.

Allison was a student at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. The school is where The Dells were born: every member of the original El-Rays lineup either attended or had attended Thornton.

The El-Rays signed with Checker Records, a Chess subsidiary, and released their first single, "Darling I Know," in 1954. It flopped, and Lucius McGill left soon after. When Vee-Jay Records owner Vivian Carter suggested a new name, Allison chose "Dells," because it rhymed with "bells" and had five letters for the five members. Their 1956 Vee-Jay single "Oh What a Night" reached the R&B top five and sold more than a million copies. Allison also wrote early Dells recordings including "Dry Your Eyes" and "Movin' On."

After a serious car crash in November 1958 the group temporarily split up, and Allison went to New York. The friends reunited around 1960, sang backing vocals for Dinah Washington, and replaced Johnny Funches with former Flamingos singer Johnny Carter. They also sang behind Barbara Lewis on "Hello Stranger" (1963) and worked with Quincy Jones on standards and jazz material.

Returning to Chess on its Cadet label in 1966, with producer Bobby Miller and arranger Charles Stepney, The Dells entered their most successful period: "There Is" (1967), "Stay in My Corner" (1968, their first R&B number one and a pop top ten hit), the 1969 remake of "Oh What a Night" (a second R&B number one and pop top ten), "Open Up My Heart," "The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)" (1971) and "Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation" (1973). Later records came on Mercury, ABC, 20th Century, Virgin and Philadelphia International, including "I Touched a Dream" (1980) and the album I Salute You (1992). Allison sang second tenor with the group until it stopped performing in 2012.

Allison's son, Verne "VA" Allison, is a singer, songwriter, drummer and producer who grew up watching his father record with The Dells and later wrote and produced "Baby Come Back" for the group (on the 2000 album Reminiscing). His brother, Tico Allison, performs with VA Allison and Marvin Junior Jr. in the tribute group Dells Too, which Verne Sr. and Mickey McGill blessed. Allison survived triple bypass heart surgery in 2000. In his final years he and McGill were the last two surviving Dells, and McGill called him "my buddy."

Allison spoke of The Dells as a brotherhood more than a band. Reflecting on being one of the last two surviving members, he said he kept a picture of all the guys and woke every morning to say thank you, adding that he had made his life with all of them and would not trade it for the world. He was proud to see the sons of the group carry the music forward.

The Dells are remembered as one of the longest-running vocal groups in popular music, moving from doo-wop to jazz-inflected soul over more than half a century with almost the same five members. Allison was not usually the lead voice, but his second tenor was part of the wall of harmony behind "Stay in My Corner," "Oh What a Night" and "The Love We Had." The group's story helped inspire Robert Townsend's film The Five Heartbeats (1991). Allison also gave the group its name.

As a member of The Dells, Allison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2022. "Oh What a Night" was ranked among Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and the group earned several gold records, including the original "Oh What a Night" and "Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation."

The Dells served as creative consultants on Robert Townsend's 1991 film The Five Heartbeats and recorded "A Heart Is a House for Love" for its soundtrack, which became a top 20 R&B hit. Allison appears with the group in archive television performances and in a 1976 interview with Ray Henderson for the television show The Scene. In the early 2020s he made a cameo, with Mickey McGill, in the video for his son's single "Missin' You."

Verne Allison died on 7 October 2026 at the age of 90, as reported that day by SoulTracks and Soul and Jazz and Funk. Soul and Jazz and Funk noted that he had suffered long-term health problems. The place and cause of death were not made public in the first reports. His death left Michael "Mickey" McGill as the last surviving member of The Dells' classic lineup.