Country Music Singer. He will be remembered, as half of one of the most popular country music duos of all time; his brother Teddy was the other half. Beginning their career on Christmas Eve 1937 with two older brothers, Leslie and Lester and a sister, Geraldine; the children were singing on street corners for tips. Their father Benjamin Wilburn, a disabled World War I veteran, purchased from Sears and Roebuck a guitar, mandolin and fiddle in hopes that his children might aid the family's dire financial situation during the Great Depression by performing for the public. After six months of school and six months of singing for money, the Wilburn Family was discovered in 1940 by Roy Acuff who brought them to The Grand Ole Opry. The family became very popular on the Opry, but were forced to resign because of child labor laws. In the early 1940s Geraldine retired from the group when she married. In 1948 the four Wilburn boys were featured on KWKH's "Louisiana Hayride." After serving in the Korean Conflict, Doyle and Teddy, formed a duo joining the Opry in 1953. Their first hit, "Sparkling Brown Eyes," which was performed with Webb Pierce, was on the national country music chart for 18 weeks in 1954 and reaching the #1 slot in the Top Five Hits. Seven more Top Ten Hits came in the 1950s, but it was in the 1960s when the brothers really hit their career peak with 18 charted hits, many of which became Top Ten Hits. They distinguished themselves with hits, "I'm So In Love With You," "Go Away With Me," "Mr. Love" and "Hey, Mr. Bluebird" (both with Ernest Tubb), "Which One Is to Blame," "Somebody's Back in Town," "A Woman's Intuition," "Trouble's Back in Town," "Roll Muddy River," "Tell Her So," "It's Another World," "Somebody Before Me" and "Hurt Her Once for Me." They hosted their own television show from 1963 to 1974. In 1957 they headed-up a very successful publishing company, Surefire Music, with their older brothers, and with steel guitarist, Don Helm, started a talent booking agency for up-and-coming singers. The Wilburn Brothers are credited for discovering Loretta Lynn, who performed and toured with the brothers. Also, they launched the singing careers of Patty Loveless, Sonny James, the Osborne Brothers and Jean Shepard. The brothers made their last, and their 30th, album together in 1978. The brothers were the only performer with a "Lifetime Recording Contract" with Decca Records. In 1967, the Wilburn Brothers were named Duet of the Music City News Awards, and in 1972 nominated for Vocal Group of the Year by the Country Music Association. The Wilburn Brothers performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry until Doyle's death in 1982 of lung cancer. Teddy continued as a solo artist on the Opry until his health declined then dying in 2003. In 2008, the Wilburn Brothers were inducted posthumously in the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.