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Bonnie Brown | Part of country trio, 77

Bonnie Brown, 77, one of three siblings whose smooth harmonies as the Browns influenced generations of singers from the Beatles to Lady Antebellum, died Saturday.

Bonnie Brown, 77, one of three siblings whose smooth harmonies as the Browns influenced generations of singers from the Beatles to Lady Antebellum, died Saturday.

Her publicist, Kirt Webster, said Ms. Brown died in Little Rock of complications from lung cancer.

With older siblings Jim Ed Brown and Maxine Brown, the three helped define the Nashville sound of the 1950s and '60s. They were inducted in 2015 into the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum after Jim Ed's death that year.

The Browns crossed over into pop, folk, and rhythm and blues, including the No. 1 hit "The Three Bells," previously a success for the French cabaret singer Edith Piaf. The group disbanded in 1968 as Jim Ed and Maxine pursued solo careers. All three reunited in the '80s and again in 2006 for a PBS special. - AP