Maurice, meanwhile, sang harmonies and backing vocals as well as playing acoustic guitar, bass guitar and piano.
Robin’s beautiful vibrato was the hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry’s falsetto characterised many of their later songs. Yet from the start they had, as Robin puts it, a ‘blind belief’ in both their talent and the bond they shared as a band. We had a working-class background and we were just having fun.’ We weren’t from the manicured lawns and houses of Los Angeles, or from groomed and well-to-do showbusiness families. Other kids were playing football, we were writing songs. In 1966 they hit No1 in Australia with the single Spicks And Specks. Just months after Andy’s birth, the family relocated to Brisbane, Australia, where they soon coined the name Bee Gees, standing for the Brothers Gibb. It had been there that the older brothers first developed their passion for singing and writing songs. Their younger brother Andy – who would become a solo artist – was born five years later in Manchester. We are going to carry on and see where this takes us.’īarry, Robin and Maurice were born on the Isle of Man and moved with their band-manager father Hugh, and mother Barbara, to Manchester in 1953. Then, one day, you look behind you and you’ve had a career. We stumbled from one project to the next.
‘When we started out we didn’t know what we were going to do. ‘The past 50 years have flown by,’ says Robin. and the first without their late brother Maurice Saturday Night Fever: Last Saturday's performance on Strictly Come Dancing was the first television appearance in eight years for the Bee Gees. So much so that last month, Barry, 63, and Robin, 59, announced that they were reuniting to honour Maurice’s memory and mark 50 years of making music together.ĭuring that time they have sold more than 200million records and become prolific songwriters for some of the industry’s greatest artists – including Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand. ‘We realised we had to enjoy what we had, and the good news is we’re through the emotional breakwater now.’ It’s still sometimes hard to believe it has happened but it has brought Barry and me closer as brothers. ‘There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think of Maurice. It took a few years for us to break through that emotion. Barry couldn’t face being a Bee Gee or making music. Barry and I had our different ways of dealing with it. 'It was awfully sad for us and it’s still hard to believe. ‘It was so sudden, and he hadn’t been ill beforehand. ‘Losing Maurice was an emotional tragedy for both of us,’ Robin added before the Strictly performance.
PLAY BEE GEES GREATEST HITS PROFESSIONAL
It has taken them until now to process both their personal pain and the effect it has had on their professional endeavours.
The surviving brothers were so grief-stricken that the Bee Gees temporarily disbanded. He was Robin’s twin and died in 2003, aged just 53, from complications following an operation to correct an intestinal blockage. Their comeback was, however, tinged with sadness, because it was the first time they had performed without their brother Maurice. I’m not an expert on the dancing, but I am a fan and I hope everyone enjoys watching us as well.’ ‘Strictly has taken on a life of its own in this country, and rightly so. It will be a magical moment and it will feel like I’m back in the saddle. 'But I’m not nervous because I’ll be with Barry. Speaking to The Mail on Sunday shortly before their appearance, Robin said: ‘This will be the first time we’ve done national television as a band for eight years. The chemistry between Barry Gibb and his younger brother Robin and the rapturous applause from the audience threatened to eclipse the performances by the competing couples on the BBC1 programme. If you would like to be the first to recieve the very best Mail on Sunday offers from the MailOnline's promotions and offers newsletter, simply CLICK HERE.
PLAY BEE GEES GREATEST HITS TV
Their TV appearance was a huge success and to celebrate their return, the Bee Gees have created a unique album of some of their greatest hits – and it’s absolutely FREE inside today's Mail on Sunday.
Brotherly love: The original Bee Gees line-up, before the death of Maurice, centreĪnyone who saw Strictly Come Dancing last Saturday will know that the magic of the Bee Gees burns as brightly as ever.