Daddy use to play with Everett and Bea
Bluegrass legend Everett Lilly dies
Bluegrass legend and Raleigh County native Everett Lilly, who with his brother Bea, reached the heights of bluegrass fame, died at his home in Clear Creek Tuesday afternoon, according to his son, Everett. He was 87. The brothers began performing together as boys and after World War II, they played live on WJLS radio. From there they moved to Wheeling radio and then to Knoxville, Tenn.
In the '50s, Everett played with Flatt and Scruggs and played with them at the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville. The pair also spent 16 years in Boston playing at the Hillbilly Ranch and are credited with bringing the bluegrass sound to Japan. The Lilly Brothers were inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Everett received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia's highest folklife honor, in 2009. Bea Lilly died in 2005. Everett played on with his sons and other musicians as the Lilly Mountaineers. Funeral arrangements for Lilly are unknown at this time.
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