Charlie Louvin, half of the Louvin Brothers whose harmonies inspired fellow country and pop singers for decades, has died aged 83.

Brett Steele, his manager, said the country music hall of fame singer died at his home in Wartrace, Tennessee, early yesterday.

Mr Louvin was diagnosed with cancer last year and underwent surgery, but continued to schedule performances and even put out an album. He was one of several stars invited to a welcome home performance of the Grand Ole Opry last year after floods damaged the Opry house.

According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the unique sound of Charlie and his brother, Ira, was highly influential in the history of the genre. The hall inducted them in 2001.

Among their hits were I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby, which was No. 1 in 1965; When I Stop Dreaming; Hoping That You’re Hoping; and You’re Running Wild.

The brothers decided to disband their duo in 1963. Two years later, Ira died in a Missouri car accident.

Charlie later recalled that differences in personality and Ira’s drinking created friction between them, but said they probably would have reunited if Ira had lived.

Charlie Louvin recorded regularly after his brother died. His album The Longest Train was released in 1996. His biggest solo hits were See the Big Man Cry in 1965 and I Don’t Love You Anymore in 1964.

They influenced harmony acts from the Everly Brothers onward. Emmylou Harris had a hit with their If I Could Only Win Your Love in 1975. The Notting Hillbillies recorded the Louvins’ Weapon of Prayer in 1990.

Interest in his music resurged as Mr Louvin reached his 80s. In 2007, his first studio album in years, Charlie Louvin, boasting appearances from artists like George Jones and Elvis Costello, was nominated for a Grammy as best traditional folk album.

A year later, his Steps To Heaven was nominated as best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album. It was one of two albums he put out in 2008; the other was Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs.