Don Everly, US music star, dies aged 84

Phil and Don Everly in 1963
Getty Images
Sarah Harvey23 August 2021

Don Everly, one half of the rock’n’roll duo the Everly Brothers, has died at his home in Nashville. He was 84.

A family spokesperson confirmed Everly’s death with the Los Angeles Times.

A statement from the family said: “Don lived by what he felt in his heart. Don expressed his appreciation for the ability to live his dreams … with his soulmate and wife, Adela, and sharing the music that made him an Everly Brother.”

Phil and Don Everly had worldwide hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Bye Bye Love and All I Have to Do Is Dream.

2019 Musicians Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Concert
Don Everly during the 2019 Musicians Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Getty Images

Their unique harmonies combined with scene-changing guitar arrangements impacted later stars including the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Isaac Donald Everly was born on 1 February 1937 in Brownie, Kentucky, the son of coalminer Ike and Margaret Everly.

Ike, a gifted guitar player, moved the family to Chicago in the late 1930s in pursuit of a career in music, and the two brothers intially played alongside their parents in a band called the Everly Family.

The group dissolved in 1953 but Don and Phil went on as a duo.

Phil, who was two years younger than Don, died of pulmonary disease in 2014 at the age of 74.

In 2019, Don was voted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville.

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