Phil Everly, half of the 1950s and ’60s pop duo the Everly Brothers passed away this month. Everly died at the age of 74, due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to his wife Patti Everly. “We are absolutely heartbroken,” Patti said, noting her husband’s disease was caused by a cigarette smoking. “He fought long and hard.” The Everly brothers were one of the most influential bands of their time – influencing the work of stars including The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. Together with his brother Don, who survives him, Everly rose to fame in the late 1950s and 1960s for smash hits such as “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do is Dream” and “Bye Bye Love” thanks to the close-harmony singing they are best known for. In 1957, the Everly Brothers signed their first record deal and soon after produced hits that spawned the genres of pop, rock and country. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, into which the Everly Brothers were inducted in 1986, described their harmonies as “one of the musical treasures of the 1950s and a major influence on the music of the 1960s.”
