In Memoriam | Phil Everly 1939 – 2013

Phil Everly, one half of the ground-breaking singing duo The Everly Brothers, passed away on Friday at a hospital in Southern California due to complications from obstructive pulmonary disease according to the L.A. Times. Everly, a lifelong smoker, was 74.

The Everly Brothers were among rock’s pioneers and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in its first year -1986. Phil and his brother Don strung together one monumental hit after another in the late ’50s and early ’60s including “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Suzie,” “Let It Be Me” and “Cathy’s Clown.” The pair influenced many musicians who came after them such as Simon & Garfunkel, who recorded “Bye Bye Love” for their Bridge Over Troubled Water album and The Beach Boys who recorded “Devoted To You.” Phil and Don’s influence was still felt even through 2013, when Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones released the Everly Brothers tribute album Foreverly.

The pair played their last headlining tour in 2005. Don and Phil broke up in 1973 before returning for a reunion concert in 1983 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Watch the pair’s set from that fateful night: