Don Everly passed away at the age of 84 on August 21, 2021.
Don was born in Brownie, Kentucky in 1937. The family moved to Chicago, (where his brother Phil Everly was born 2 years later), then to Iowa, and eventually landing in Tennessee – first in Knoxville in 1953, and two years later, Madison…which is right outside of Nashville.
While in Knoxville, Don and his brother Phil started performing on Cas Walker’s Farm and Home Hour – which was both a radio and TV show. Appearances on the program caught the eye of Chet Atkins. After the boys arrived in Nashville, and just two years after Don graduated high school, with the help of Chet, Don and Phil signed their first record deal and recorded the song that would define their career, “Bye Bye Love.”
The pair would go on to record a number of hits that would reverberate through the course of popular music as The Beach Boys, The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel would all cite the duo as an influence.
The 1970s would see the brothers part ways musically with Don then recording solo projects, and also working with many artists in the world of Rock and Roll, and Country music – from Warren Zevon to Emmylou Harris.
Don and Phil reunited in 1980s where they would tour, and make music, along with various appearances until Phil’s death in 2014.
The Everly Brothers hold the record for the most Top 100 singles by a duo, and are second, only to Hall & Oates, for the most Top 40 singles by a duo.
The Everly Brothers were included among the first 10 acts that were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2001, they became a part of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004. 1986 saw The Everly Brothers get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and then in 1997, they were awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.
Photos & Video Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame
