Charlie Louvin Dies

Charlie Louvin, of the Louvin Brothers, passed away early Wednesday Morning, January 26, 2011 due to complications from pancreatic cancer at the age of 83.  Ira and Charlie Louvin, inducted as members of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, were one of the hottest duet acts in Country Music from 1955-1965, when Ira was killed in a car crash at 41.  

Together, the Louvin Brothers hit the charts with "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby," "When I Stop Dreaming," "You're Running Wild," and "My Baby's Gone" (recently featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Crazy Heart").  After his brother passed, Charlie released a series of solo recordings, but didn't find much mainstream success.

Over the last decade, Charlie released new music and found a cult following of Alternative, Bluegrass, and Traditional Country Music fans.  In 2003, an all star tribute album titled "Livin' Lovin' Losin': Songs Of The Louvin Brothers" won a Grammy Award for Best Country Album.  The project featured Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, Glen Campbell and the Grammy Award winning collaboration of James Taylor and Allison Krauss on the Louvin's classic, "How's The World Treating You."

Last July, it was releaved that he was battling stage two pancreatic cancer. He underwent surgery that same month at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center; however, the surgery did not go as well as the Louvin family had hoped. For the past few months, Charlie had been experimenting with alternative methods to battle the disease.