News

RIP Charlie Louvin

3:19 p.m. · January 26, 2011 · by Julian Hattem

Country music legend Charlie Louvin passed away from pancreatic cancer at his home in Wartrace, Tenn., early this morning, according to multiple reports. He was 83.

Louvin began his career playing with his brother, Ira, as the Louvin Brothers. The two performed a form of modernized gospel, singing in harmony and laying the groundwork for musicians from Gram Parsons to Jack White. As one of the groups bridging country with rock and roll, the Louvins pioneered a spirit of rebellion in the 1940s, '50s and early '60s. The two split up in 1963 and Ira died in a car accident in '65, but Charlie would go on to record 20 albums under his own name. He was a fixture at the Grand Ole Opry, and in 2001 the Louvin Brothers were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

He had been making music up until last year, when he released The Battle Rages On.

Listen to one of the Louvin Brothers' biggest hits, "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby."