Tributes Pour In For Phil Everly

 As the world learns the sad news of Phil Everly's death and mourns the loss, tributes have begun coming in from all over:

Brother Don said:

I was listening to one of my favorite songs that Phil wrote and had an extreme emotional moment just before I got the news of his passing,” Don Everly wrote in a statement to  Associated Press. “I took that as a special spiritual message from Phil saying goodbye. Our love was and will always be deeper than any earthly differences we might have had.

Duane Eddy, who produced Everly's first solo album, described his death as "a huge blow".  Eddy said of the brothers:  "It was the most beautiful sound you'll ever hear, I think, of two voices."

Brian May, guitarist of Queen, said he had lost a huge piece of his youth and described the brothers as heroes.  On his website, May wrote "RIP Phil Everly...you were magic.  I have tears in my eyes."

Albert Lee, another elite guitarist who was musical director for the brothers' reunion concert and performed with them for more than two decades, said they had a unique sound.

"There was nothing like it. It was a combination of their country upbringing and when they became teenagers they fell in love with rock and roll," he told BBC News. "They sounded like no one else."

Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy, issued this tribute late last night:

Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Phil Everly was part of one of the most prominent vocal duos of the rock era. Joined by his brother Don in the Everly Brothers, the duo’s superb and flawless harmonies influenced some of music’s most iconic acts, including the Beach Boys and the Beatles. Their profound impact on pop and rock music is still heard today, and will continue to live on in future generations. Phil Everly was a groundbreaking artist, and he leaves an indelible and timeless mark on music and our industry. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends and those who were inspired by his outstanding talent.


Linda Ronstadt, who enjoyed a big hit with her cover of "When Will I Be Loved" in 1975, said: 

They had the sibling sound. The information of your Dna is carried in your voice, and you can get a sound that you never get with someone who's not blood-related to you. And they were both such good singers, they were one of the foundations, one of the cornerstones of the new rock'n'roll sound.


Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day, who recently released a tribute album with Norah Jones called Foreverly, said on Twitter:  "The Everly Brothers go way back far as I can remember hearing music. Those harmonies live on forever. We're gonna miss you Phil. Gratitude."

Klaus Meine of the Scorpions said "RIP Phil Everly...your music lives forever in my heart."

The group a-ha wrote on their website "...I'll do my crying in the rain."

Jerry Naylor, who replaced Buddy Holly in the Crickets after Holly's death, told Vintage Rock 'n' Roll Examiner, “The Everly Brothers, Phil and Don, were the unmatchable foundation for Rockabilly / Rock and Roll vocal harmonizing. Their pure sound on recordings and powerfully performed live in concert stimulated Buddy Holly, The Crickets and our Liberty Years Crickets when I was the lead singer."

 
    The Everly Brothers live on The Ed Sullivan Show...

Lyricist Sir Tim Rice posted on Twitter:  "Death of the great Phil Everly one of the saddest musical exits of all time for me. He and Don more influential than even they knew."

Other celebrities who have commented on Everly's passing include Charlie Daniels, Nancy Sinatra and Rita Wilson.  The famous Los Angeles radio station K-EARTH posted to their website:  "We lost another legend."

Neil McCormick of The Telegraph in London wrote:

Perhaps the saddest thing about Phil Everly's death is knowing his voice will never align with his brother Don’s again. The Everlys were the essence of harmony, the most human and potent of all musical techniques, two voices singing complementary melodies so perfectly joined in rhythm, phrasing, nuance and tone that they blend seamlessly into a new melody, almost as if the two voices don’t so much become one as three. It is, at its best, something supernatural. And the Everlys were the best.

One fan wrote: "All I can say is thanks for much of the soundtrack to my youth."  Another said: "Everly Brothers: the greatest two-part harmony singing ever recorded."  Another said "Everly Brothers = National Treasure."  Yet another said: "The sun has set on one-half of a musical institution."