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Phil Everly, half of the Everly Brothers, dies
Written by oliviawallwork
Neil Young once said, when introducing the Everly Brothers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, that every music group he had belonged to had tried and failed to copy the Everly Brothers’ harmonies. Their iconic close harmonies have had far reaching influence and shaped the popular music industry. The Beatles consciously copied the brothers’ two-part harmonies and it said that their vocals on “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me” were as a direct response to the Everlys’ “Cathy’s Clown”. ‘Perhaps even more powerfully than Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers melded country with the emerging sound of 50s rock & roll’ said Rolling Stone magazine, who placed the Everly Brothers at 33 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists.
One half of this influential duo, Phillip Everly sadly died today, in Los Angeles due complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife Patti told the LA Times. He was born on 19 January 1939 and died at the age of 74.