Don Everly

Don Everly was the oldest of the Everly Brothers, the iconic duo whose swooning harmonies and sharp songwriting made Don and his younger brother, Phil, two of rock & roll's earliest stars. Born on February 1, 1937, in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Don was largely raised in Shenandoah, Iowa, where he sang alongside his father, mother, and brother on local radio shows. The family later moved to Tennessee, where the Everly Brothers affiliated themselves with a local songwriting duo, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and began recording a string of hits that appealed to country, pop, and rock & roll fans alike. Starting with 1957's "Bye Bye Love," the siblings earned several chart-topping hits with the Bryants' material, including "Wake Up Little Susie" (1957), "All I Have to Do is Dream" (1958), and "Bird Dog" (1958). Don Everly established himself as a capable songwriter, too, penning the Top 10 hit "(Till) I Kissed You" (1959), the international Number 1 smash "Cathy's Clown" (1960), and the UK single "The Price of Love" (1965). The group's popularity fizzled during the latter half of the 1960s, with Don Everly releasing a number of overlooked solo albums — 1970's self-titled Don Everly, 1974's Sunset Towers, and 1977's Brother Juke Box — before rejoining Phil for the Everly Brothers' comeback hit "On the Wings of a Nightingale." Written by Paul McCartney and released in 1984, the song became a Top 10 success on American's adult contemporary chart. Four years later, 1988's Some Hearts marked the duo's final album, and Everly Brothers continued to sporadically tour together until Phil Everly's death in 2014. Don Everly passed away seven years later on August 21, 2021, in Nashville, TN. He was 84 years old.

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