The Everly Brothers
were an
American Rock duo,
known for
steel-string acoustic guitar
playing and
close-harmony singing.
Consisting of
Isaac Donald "Don" Everly
and
Phillip "Phil" Everly,
the duo combined
elements of
rock and roll,
country,
and pop,
becoming pioneers
of country rock.
Don and Phil Everly
were raised in a
musical family.
As children in the 1940s,
they appeared on
radio in Iowa,
singing with their parents
as
the Everly Family.
During their
high-school years
in Knoxville,
they performed on
radio and television.
The brothers gained
the attention of
Chet Atkins,
who began to
promote them.
They began writing
and recording
their own music in 1956.
The brothers'
first hit song was
"Bye Bye Love",
which hit number one
in the spring of 1957.
Additional hits,
including
"Wake Up Little Susie",
"All I Have to Do Is Dream",
and
"Problems",
followed in 1958.
In 1960,
they signed with
Warner Bros. Records
and recorded
"Cathy's Clown",
which was their
biggest-selling single.
The brothers enlisted
in the United States
Marine Corps Reserve
in 1961
and their output
dropped off,
though additional
hit singles
continued
through 1962.
Their final top-10 hit was
"That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)".
The Everly Brothers
experienced a decline
in popularity in
the United States
in the 1960s
due to changing tastes
in popular music,
long-simmering disputes
with Acuff-Rose Music
CEO
Wesley Rose,
and increased
drug use
by the brothers.
However,
the duo continued
to release hit singles
in the U.K.
and Canada,
and had many
successful tours
in the 1960s.
In the early 1970s,
the brothers began
releasing solo recordings;
they ended their
musical partnership
in 1973.
In 1983,
the Everly Brothers reunited.
They continued to
perform periodically
until the death of
Phil Everly in 2014.
The Everly Brothers
had a major influence
on the music
of the generation
that followed them.
Many of the top acts
of the 1960s
were heavily influenced
by the close-harmony
singing and acoustic
guitar playing
of the
Everly Brothers;
those acts included
the Beatles,
the Beach Boys,
the Bee Gees,
and
Simon and Garfunkel.
In 2015,
Rolling Stone ranked
the Everly Brothers
number one
on its list of the
20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
The brothers were
inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
as part of the
inaugural class
of 1986
and into the
Country Music
Hall of Fame
in 2001.
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
introduction on
"Wake Up Little Susie
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