The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing.

The brothers enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1961 and their output dropped off, though additional hit singles continued through 1962.

Don Everly was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019, earning the organization's first Iconic Riff Award for his distinctive rhythm guitar intro on "Wake Up Little Susie.

"[5] Don was born in Brownie, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, on February 1, 1937, and Phil in Chicago, Illinois, on January 19, 1939.

[6][7][8][9] Actor James Best (born Jewel Guy), also from Muhlenberg County, was a first cousin, the son of Ike's sister.

[18] While in Knoxville, the brothers found work performing on Cas Walker’s Farm and Home Hour, a regional radio and TV variety program.

The brothers caught the attention of family friend Chet Atkins, manager of the RCA Victor studios in Nashville.

Their first Warner Bros. hit, 1960's "Cathy's Clown", which they wrote and composed themselves, sold eight million copies and became the duo's biggest-selling record.

But, you could call us an American skiffle group!Other successful Warner Bros. singles followed in the United States, such as "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)" (1960, pop No.

Using the pseudonym "Adrian Kimberly", Don recorded a big-band instrumental version of Edward Elgar's first "Pomp and Circumstance" march, which Neal Hefti arranged and which charted in the United States top 40 in mid-1961.

Don's condition was worse, as he was taking Ritalin; his addiction lasted three years, until he suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for treatment.

When Don collapsed in England in mid-October 1962, reporters were told he had food poisoning;[37] when the tabloids suggested he had taken an overdose of pills, his wife and his brother insisted he was suffering physical and nervous exhaustion.

[39] Though their U.S. stardom had begun to wane two years before the British Invasion in 1964, their appeal was still strong in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Don performed solo the following night, commenting to the audience "The Everly Brothers died ten years ago".

Don found some success on the US country charts in the mid- to late-1970s, in Nashville with his band, Dead Cowboys, and playing with Albert Lee.

[30][50] The brothers' reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 23, 1983, which ended their ten-year-long solo careers, was initiated by Phil and Don alongside Terry Slater, with Wingfield as musical director.

[51] The brothers returned to the studio as a duo for the first time in over a decade, recording the album EB '84, produced by Dave Edmunds.

The lead single, "On the Wings of a Nightingale", written by Paul McCartney, was a success (Top 10 adult contemporary)[52] and returned them to the US Hot 100 (for their last appearance) and the UK charts.

McCartney made his esteem for the duo explicit, saying, "When John and I started to write songs, I was Phil and he was Don.

"On Top of the World" was written and composed by Phil, who appeared in the music video they recorded in Los Angeles.

A 1981 live BBC recording of "All I Have to Do Is Dream", which featured Cliff Richard and Phil sharing vocals, was a UK Top 20 hit in 1994.

[56] Phil Everly sang "Sweet Little Corrina" with country singer Vince Gill on his 2006 album These Days.

Phil Everly died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, on January 3, 2014,[61] aged 74, of lung disease.

[62][63][64][49] Patti Everly blamed her husband's death on his smoking habit, which caused him to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; she stated that Phil had spent his final years having to carry oxygen tanks with him wherever he went and taking 20 different types of medication per day.

Don attributed their estrangement to "their vastly different views on politics and life", with music being the one thing they shared closely.

[74] In the late 1950s, the Everly Brothers were the rock and roll youth movement's addition to close harmony vocal groups, many of which were family bands.

They influenced rock groups of the 1960s, with such major acts as The Beatles,[75] The Beach Boys,[76] and Simon & Garfunkel[77] performing Everly songs as part of their early musical development.

On July 5, 1986, the Everlys returned to Shenandoah, Iowa, for a concert, parade, street dedication, class reunion, and other activities.

[88][89] On Labor Day weekend 1988, Central City, Kentucky, began the Everly Brothers Homecoming event to raise money for a scholarship fund for Muhlenberg County students.

2007 also saw Alison Krauss and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant release Raising Sand, which included a cover of the Everlys' 1964 hit "Gone, Gone, Gone", produced by T-Bone Burnett.