Don Everly was born on February 1 1937 in Brownie, Kentucky. His brother Phil Everly would be born nearly two years later in Chicago. Their parents, Ike and Margaret Everly, were country musicians who moved to Kentucky to Chicago in order to pursue opportunities in the music industry there. It was not long after Phil's birth that they moved to Iowa. Ike would have his own radio show on radio stations KMA and KFNF in Shenandoah, Iowa, on which both his wife and sons also sang. Don and Phil Everly made their singing debut on Ike Everly's show in 1945. When Don and Phil Everly were teenagers, they left for Nashville to pursue their own careers in music. The two of them were hired as songwriters for Roy Acuff's publishing company. The first hit Don Everly ever wrote would then be "Thou Shalt Not Steal", sung by Kitty Wells. "Thou Shalt Not Steal" went to number 14 on the Billboard country music chart in 1954.
In 1956 The Everly Brothers recorded their first single, the country song "Keep A-Lovin' Me" on the Columbia label. It was in 1957 that they signed with the Cadence label. Their second single, "Bye Bye Love," released in March 1957, turned out to be their first hit. It went to went to #2 on the Billboard singles chart and #1 on the Billboard country music chart. Their third single would prove to be an even bigger hit. Released in September 1957, "Wake Up Little Susie" went to no. 1 on the Billboard singles chart and no. 1 on the Billboard country chart.
In the following years The Everly Brothers would have several hits. "All I Have to Do Is Dream" and "Cathy's Clown" both went to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Bird Dog", "Devoted to You", "Problems", "(Till) I Kissed You", "Let It Be Me", "When Will I Be Loved", "So Sad", "Walk Right Back", "Ebony Eyes" "Crying in the Rain", and "That's Old Fashioned" all hit the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The Everly Brothers may have been ever bigger in the United Kingdom, where they had no less than six no. 1 singles.
In 1960 The Everly Brothers left Cadence for the Warner Brothers label. In November 1961 The Everly Brothers both enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. They would be largely out of the public eye for six months. Their appearance on February 18 1962 edition of The Ed Sullivan Show was one of their few appearances during this era. Perhaps as a result, their career would stall in the United States in 1962. Their last top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 would be "That Old Fashioned" early that year. The would have only two more top forty hits in the United States (in 1964 Gone, Gone, Gone", which went to no. 31, while in 1967 "Bowling Green" went to no. 40). Despite their career having stalled in the United States, The Everly Brothers continued to have several more hits in the United Kingdom.
Despite no longer doing well on the charts, The Everly Brothers continued to be a creative force in music. They recorded the album Two Yanks in England with The Hollies, and combined The Everly Brothers' earlier style with The Hollies' jangly guitars. The album would be considered crucial in the evolution of power pop. Their 1968 album, Roots, would prove pivotal in the development of country rock.
Warner Brothers Records ultimately allowed The Everly Brothers' contract to expire after several years without any hit records in the United States. They signed with RCA Victor in 1971. That same year they also had their own summer television replacement show, The Everly Brothers Show, on ABC. Unfortunately their two albums on RCA Victor would not prove successful. To make matters worse, tensions between Don and Phil Everly had been growing for years. It was at a concert on July 14 1973 that it became obvious that The Everly Brothers would not be recording together any time soon. The two argued between each other on stage until Don finally left with the words, "I'm through being an Everly Brother!" Phil finished the concert by himself.
Even before the break up, Don Everly had recorded a self-titled solo album in 1970. It would be followed by Sunset Towers in 1974 and Brother Juke-Box in 1976. He recorded "Everytime You Leave" with Emmylou Harris for her 1979 album Blue Kentucky Girl.
Don and Phil Everly reunited ten years after their break up at the Royal Albert Hall in London on September 23 1983. The concert was recorded for a live album and for cable television broadcasts. The Everly Brothers recorded three more albums together: EB 84 in 1984, Born Yesterday in 1986, and Some Hearts in 1988. The Everly Brothers recorded no more studio albums, although they continued to tour together.
The Everly Brothers would record with other artists. They appeared on Johnny Cash's single "Ballad of a Teenage Queen." They performed the song "Cold" for for a concept album based on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's musical Whistle Down the Wind. In 2003 and 2004 The Everly Brothers toured with Simon & Garfunkel during the latter duo's Old Friends reunion tour. In 2014 Don Everly performed "Bye Bye Love" at the Annual Music Masters as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on October 24 2014. In 2018 he made his final appearance, performing with Paul Simon in Nashville on Paul Simon's farewell tour.
The Everly Brothers are legends for a very good reason. Quite simply, they were extremely influential in the development of rock music. Their vocal harmonies could be a major influence on The Beatles, who utilized Everly-style harmonies on their early songs. They would also have an impact on other British Invasion bands, including The Hollies, Freddie and the Dreamers, Peter and Gordon, Herman's Hemits, and yet others. In the United States they would influence such music acts as The Beach Boys, They Byrds, and Simon & Garfunkel.
>Indeed, The Everly Brothers would have an impact on entire subgenres of rock music. Arguably, the genre of power pop would not exist without them, as it is the blend of close harmonies and guitars that define the genre. Folk rock also owes a debt to The Everly Brothers, with two of the biggest folk acts (The Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel) showing the influence of The Everly Brothers. Even their album Roots would have an impact on country rock.
Along with his brother Phil, Don Everly changed rock music forever. The Everly Brothers influenced major artists to come and even led to the development of entirely new subgenres of rock music. It is quite possible that without The Everly Brothers we would not have The Beatles, The Hollies, Simon & Garfunkel, or The Byrds, at least not as we known them. Indeed, to this day The Everly Brothers still hold record for the most hit singles of any duo to reach the Billboard Hot 100. Few music acts have ever been as influential as The Everly Brothers.
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