Phil Everly of Everly Brothers dies at 74, newspaper reports.

NBC News/ Today Entertainment ^ | 1/3/2014 | Alex Johnson

[Carriage Hill]

Phil Everly, half of one of the most popular and influential music duos of the 1950s and '60s, the Everly Brothers, died Friday at age 74, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Times quoted Everly's wife, Patti, as saying Everly died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after decades of smoking.

NBC News couldn't immediately reach Patti Everly to confirm the Times report, which quoted her as saying, “We are absolutely heartbroken.”

At their peak, the Everly Brothers — Phil, who was born in 1939, and Don, who was born in 1937 and survives his younger brother — hit it big in 1957 with "Bye Bye Love."

With its soaring, tight harmonies expressing dejection at lost love in an anomalously chirpy manner, the song reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop charts. It has been covered by dozens of other prominent artists as wide-ranging as Ray Charles, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Trini Lopez and Simon & Garfunkel.

That was quickly followed by two more monster hits, "Wake Up Little Susie" and "All I Have to Do Is Dream."

Hits in the 1960s included "Carly's Clown," "When Will I Be Loved" and "Cryin' in the Rain."

[freekitty]

RIP

[Carriage Hill]

I saw them at the York Fair (PA) in Sept 1962.

[JoeProBono]

[Carriage Hill]

Good memory.

[Carriage Hill]

They were unique.
COPD is a terrible way to go.

[MeshugeMikey]

the Everly’s songs were the soundtrack for many memories.

RIP!

[Carriage Hill]

Copied from article; it should be Cathy’s Clown. I missed the typo.

[Doogle]

RIP Phil...your songs always me made feel that somehow someway it related to me (teenage years)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kUMwl2BvPY

[Carriage Hill]

Classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d1ig-dYuLk

[Carriage Hill]

LOL.

[M-cubed]

Yup!...Cathys Clown

[daler]

Man, you nailed it.

This is tough news for me.

Not only am I a lifelong fan of the Everlys, in my ute I began a fledgling radio broadcasting career in Shenandoah, IA.

[SuziQ]

Their close harmonies is what made me want to sing harmony! I’ve been an alto all my life, and love it!

[Carriage Hill]

I danced at a lot of “sock hops” in Jr High (50s) & High School (60s) to their music. They were legend.

[Carriage Hill]

Amen.

[WXRGina]

The original story has now been corrected to read “Cathy’s Clown.”

What a gross blunder of “reporting”!

[MeshugeMikey]

every Everly Brothers song brings back bittersweet memories for me.

[Carriage Hill]

They had magic mojo on stage, with their voices and music. Sad to see Phil go at 74.

[Texas Songwriter]

“Wake up Little Suzi, Wake Up”

[Texas Songwriter]

Harmonies incomparable. Their harmonies were ‘familial’.