So, can you confirm the Salman Rushdie report that they weren’t speaking to each other after reuniting in the mid 80s? And if so, did they ever reconcile. There is a great documentary on Youtube, which you must have seen (the Everly family reunion in Kentucky is shown among other things) where Don talks about the hard times they had gaining acceptance after the Beatles came out, and how it and the road contributed to them splitting up. They toured until a few years ago, didn’t they, and only a couple of years ago I heard Don say that the Everly Brothers are over.
It isn’t true for the most part.
They got along great in the 80’s after the reunion and even early 1990’s. The problems started again in the late 1990’s. They ‘retired’ about 2001 and stopped talking then. There were a few issues, Don wanted to record a new album, Phil wanted to do a UK/Australia tour but Don didn’t want to tour without a new recording and Phil was insisting if they did a new album that he be able to record one of his own songs and do lead on at least part of it so it was a stalemate.
Also, Phil was showing up drunk onstage (saw them in Vegas once and Phil could barely stand) which brought back a lot of old issues from the first time they broke up when Don was drinking heavily.
They did the “old friends” tour with Simon and Garfunkel and hadn’t spoken in a few years at that point but could just be fine on stage. That was the last time they performed together. There was no way they would have gotten back together.