(CNN) -- Singer Phil Everly -- one half of the groundbreaking, smooth-sounding, record-setting duo, the Everly Brothers -- has died, a hospital spokeswoman said.
He was 74.
Patricia Aidem, a
spokeswoman at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank,
confirmed Everly's death on Friday, but could not provide additional
details, citing the family's request.
During the late 1950s and
early 1960s, Phil Everly and his brother, Don, ranked among the elite
in the music world by virtue of their pitch-perfect harmonies and
emotive lyrics.
Rolling Stone
labeled the Everly Brothers "the most important vocal duo in rock,"
having influenced the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel and
many other acts.
Along the way, they notched 35 Top 100 songs -- more than any other vocal pair.
The Everly Brothers'
sound -- with Don's lower register generally ringing in perfect thirds
with Phil's higher voice -- was the backbone of dozens of hits.
The two began as
songwriters before signing a deal in 1957 with Cadence Records. They
became international sensations over the next five years with tunes such
as "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," "When Will I Be Loved" and
"All I Have to Do Is Dream." In terms of record sales, their chief
rivals during this stretch were Elvis Presley and Pat Boone.
Their style -- a product
of their blend of rock 'n' roll with Appalachian folk, bluegrass and
other genres more closely aligned to their Kentucky roots -- helped them
earn inductions in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
"The amount of music that can be directly traced to the Everly Brothers is incredible," wrote one admirer on Twitter. "Thanks, Phil...and 'Bye Bye.'"
The brothers were born in the business, the offspring of country and western singers Margaret and Ike Everly.
The Everlys sang with
their parents in live shows and on the radio. In the mid-'50s, while
still teenagers, they moved to Nashville to be songwriters. In 1957,
they found a Felice and Boudleaux Bryant song, "Bye Bye Love."
According to "The
Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll," 30 acts had rejected the
song, but the Everlys -- with the key guitar contributions of Chet
Atkins, who played on many of their hits -- took the song to No. 2 on
the pop charts.
"They added Bo Diddley
riffs, teenage anxieties and sharkskin suits but -- for all that -- the
core of their sound remained country brother harmony," read their bio on the Country Music Hall of Fame's website.
After averaging a Top 10
hit every four months over the next few years, the Everly Brothers
inked a 10-year pact with Warner Brothers (which now is part of Time
Warner, like CNN) in 1960. More success followed -- including "Cathy's
Clown," which the duo wrote -- and they stayed particularly popular in
Britain.
"Bye Bye Love" was "the
first thing that really killed me," Paul Simon once recalled. He called
Art Garfunkel immediately upon hearing the song, according to a Simon
biography, and the two set to work on their own act.
The Everlys also served to bond the nascent Beatles.
Upon hearing "All I Have
to Do Is Dream" in 1958, the young group -- which had just added George
Harrison to a lineup that included John Lennon and Paul McCartney --
couldn't wait to cover it.
"When we first heard it, it blew us away," McCartney said in Mark Lewisohn's new Beatles biography, "Tune In."
By the 1970s, the pair
was performing in a band that also included legends Warren Zevon and
Waddy Wachtel. But their time together came to a sudden end in 1973,
when Phil stormed off the stage during a show in California.
The brothers reunited on
stage and in the studio 10 years later, leading to more albums,
including "EB 84" (including the McCartney-written "On the Wings of a
Nightingale") and "Born Yesterday."
Their remaining years
were highlights by occasional shows, hall of fame inductions and various
other honors, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
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