Bee Gees' singer Robin Gibb dies at 62
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 21, 2012
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Robin Gibb in Dubai, March, 2008[file photo] |
He was 62.
Diagnosed with colon and liver cancer, Gibb had been in a coma as he battled pneumonia earlier this spring, representative Doug Wright said.
Doctors believe that Gibb had a secondary tumor, Wright said April 14. Gibb had emergency surgery in 2010 for a blocked bowel and then had more surgery for a twisted bowel, Wright confirmed.
Robin's twin brother, Maurice, died in 2003 from a twisted bowel. And younger brother Andy Gibb -- who was not part of the group -- died at 30 from a heart infection. The only surviving member of the three Bee Gees is brother Barry, 65.
Robin Gibb was born in 1949 on Isle of Man off the British coast, and the Gibb boys grew up in Manchester. The family later moved to Redcliffe, Australia, where their group performed on television as the B.G.'s -- a moniker they later altered to the Bee Gees.
The family returned to England in the 1960s, and they began to emerge on an international scale.
By the mid-1970s, they transitioned to develop more dance-oriented hits such as "Jive Talkin' " and "Nights on Broadway."
Yet for all these earlier successes, the Bee Gees skyrocketed to new heights with the 1977 release of "Saturday Night Fever," a movie starring John Travolta that was built around the group's falsetto voices and disco-friendly songs.
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Bee Gees for the television special Billboard No. 1 Music Awards (November 1977) Top to bottom: Barry, Robin and Maurice. [file photo] |
"Saturday Night Fever" and the group's 1979 album "Spirits Having Flown" yielded six No. 1 hits, "making the Bee Gees the only group in pop history to write, produce and record that many consecutive chart-topping singles," according to the Hall of Fame.
While often more in the background, Robin Gibb was the lead singer on several of the Bee Gees' top tunes including "I Started a Joke" and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You." He also recorded several solo albums during his career.
The group's soundtrack album "Saturday Night Fever" was the top-selling album until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" claimed that distinction in the 1980s.
Gibb is survived by his wife, Dwina; his daughter, Melissa, and sons Spencer and Robin-John.
News of his death set off a torrent of reaction in social media. Musician Bryan Adams, for instance, lamented "another great singer dying too young" on Twitter, while fellow British band Duran Duran and current pop sensation Bruno Mars were among many who posted their condolences.
"The Bee Gees were/are the gold standard when it comes to pop/r&b melody, harmony and vocal arrangement. Massive loss," wrote prolific pop songwriter Claude Kelly on his Twitter feed.
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