US Musician Phil Everly of EVERLY BROTHERS dies - Wake up little Susie (1957) - video

US musician Phil Everly dies aged 74

The Everly Brothers were a popular rock and country duo in the 1950s and 1960s

US musician Phil Everly, one half of the Everly Brothers, has died, aged 74, in California, his wife Patti says.

Everly died in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank of complications from lung disease, Patti told the Los Angeles Times.

"We are absolutely heartbroken," she said, adding that the disease was the result of a lifetime of smoking.

Phil Everly and his brother Don made up the Everly Brothers, one of the biggest pop acts of the 1950s and early 1960s.

They had a string of close-harmony hits including Wake Up Little Suzie, Cathy's Clown, Bye Bye Love, and All I Have To Do Is Dream.

Rolling Stone magazine calls them "the most important vocal duo in rock".

The pair had an onstage breakup in 1973 that led to a decade-long estrangement, but Phil later told Time magazine the brothers' relationship had survived this.

"Don and I are infamous for our split," Phil said, "but we're closer than most brothers."