On January 3, 2014, Phil Everly died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California,[35] 16 days before his 75th birthday. The cause was complications from lung disease, brought on by a lifetime of smoking.[36][37][38] Don Everly claimed in a 2014 interview with Los Angeles Times that he had given up smoking in the late 1960s, and that Phil had stopped too, but started again during their break-up and had continued until 2001. Don said that weak lungs ran in the family as their father Ike, had died of black lung disease. He admitted that he had lived "a very difficult life" with his brother and that he and Phil had become estranged once again in later years, something which was mainly attributed to "their vastly different views on politics and life" with the music being the one thing they shared closely, saying "it's almost like we could read each other's minds when we sang.". However, Don also stated that he had not gotten "over" Phil's death, which he elaborated by saying: "I always thought about him every day, even when we were not speaking to each other. It still just shocks me that he's gone.". Don added that he always firmly believed he would die before Phil due to Don being older