Bee Gees Biography

BEE GEES BIOGRAPHY

Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb-together as brothers all their lives, and as a singing group nearly as long. Their career began when the three gathered in a bedroom in their home in Manchester, England, and began working out the natural harmonies which today are one of the hallmarks of the Bee Gees' sound. They worked these out so well that their mom believed her sons' harmonizing was actually a radio playing in the next room. Father Hugh Gibb, a bandleader in his own right, and mother Barbara Gibb, a former professional singer, knew their sons possessed special talents. Maurice has said that their dad envisioned them as a children's version of the Mills Brothers, an American family quartet extremely popular in England and the US from the thirties through the sixties.
The Mills Brothers were known for their tight, beautiful harmonies. So it was then that the Rattlesnakes (Barry, age 9, and Robin and Maurice, age 6) began performing at the local Manchester, England, cinemas between films. A little later, they began calling themselves "Wee Johnny Hays and the Blue Cats", though no one seems to remember exactly why! In 1958, Hugh and Barbara decided to look for "greener pastures" (and warmer climates!). They moved the entire family (now comprised of Hugh and Barbara, and older sister Leslie, Barry, Robin, Maurice, and baby brother Andy) to Australia, settling in the Brisbane area.
Once settled in Brisbane, the Brothers began pursuing their singing and songwriting careers in earnest, each vowing to the other that success, together, was what they wanted. They played at the local beach resorts, racetracks, and on local radio and TV, having caught the attention of local DJ Bill Gates (no, not the Microsoft one). In March, 1960, the Brothers were given their own half-hour weekly television show in Brisbane (remember, Barry was still only 13, and the twins were 10!). It was at about this time, at the suggestion of Bill Gates (notice his initials), that the Brothers became first the BG's (for Brothers Gibb), and soon after the Bee Gees. In 1963, they signed their first recording contract with Festival Records in Australia. They released their first Bee Gees'-written single, "Three Kisses of Love", and wrote songs for other artists.
Still, their careers weren't progressing as they'd hoped. Despite releasing a dozen singles, none were hits. Yes, the Bee Gees had been voted the top songwriting team in Australia in both 1965 and 1966. Yes, they had been named Australia's best group in 1966. But there were no hits. Ultimately, the Brothers decided to return to England, where the music scene had exploded with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cream, and so many others. In January, 1967, the Gibb family sailed back to Great Britain. While on this journey, the Bee Gees finally got their first #1 in Australia with "Spicks and Specks". They had sent ahead to England demo tapes of most of their Australian material, including "Spicks and Specks", to NEMS Enterprises, headed by the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein. Unbeknownst to the Brothers, Epstein and his associate, Robert Stigwood, listened to the tapes, and Stigwood was more than interested. Nearly as soon as they were off the ship in England, Stigwood was calling on them. In short order, the Brothers were signed to a five-year management contract with Stigwood. After adding Vince Melouney (guitar) and Colin Petersen (drums) to the group, the Bee Gees headed for the studio to record "Bee Gees First", which was released in mid-1967. Their first single, "New York Mining Disaster 1941", and the follow-ups "Holiday" and "To Love Somebody", quickly gained them the beginnings of the international recognition they'd been seeking so long. In May of 1967, they appeared on "Top of the Pops", Britain's most important rock and roll showcase. The Bee Gees became the hottest new group in London.
By late '67, the Bee Gees' second album, "Horizontal", had been recorded and released. From this album came the UK chart-topping "Massachusetts". In 1968 came the "Idea" album, with the hit singles "I Started A Joke" and "Gotta Get A Message To You". In the space of a little more than one year, the Brothers Gibb had released three albums, had six hit singles, had made their American TV debut, and were the toast of London.

By 1969, the Bee Gees had recorded their two-disk concept album, "Odessa". The album was released in a lush, red velvet cover, which was appropriate for an album filled with songs with lush arrangements and orchestration. However, the stress of writing, recording, and just being together so much was beginning to take its toll. As is so often the case when huge success comes quickly, dissension had set in among the Brothers and the rest of the group. Massive disagreement over what was to be the "A" side of the first single from "Odessa" --- Barry wanted "First of May", while Robin felt equally strongly that "Lamplight" should be the "A" side --- resulted in Robin's departure from the Bee Gees to pursue a solo career. Vince Melouney, and soon Colin Petersen, also left. The pressures of that "first fame" --- fans, girlfriends, people telling each brother that he didn't need the other two for success, and lots of money---combined with what Maurice once stated simply was "immaturity" to drive the Brothers apart (remember, this was 1969---Barry was only 22, and Robin and Mo were still just 19!).

Robin went into the studio, and, after doing virtually everything for the album (writing, producing, singing, arranging), released "Robin's Reign". The single from the album, "Saved By The Bell", achieved notable success in Europe. Meanwhile, Barry and Maurice kept on as the Bee Gees, releasing the album "Cucumber Castle" and appearing (with comedian Frankie Howerd, Eleanor Bron, and others) in a British TV special of the same name. (Author's note--if you have an opportunity to see "Cucumber Castle", don't pass it up. The humor and puns are typically British and typically Bee Gees, and Barry as the King of Cucumber and Maurice as the King of Jelly are priceless. My sides ached from laughing!) Ultimately, though, Barry and Mo parted company as well. The split was to last 15 months. The time the Brothers spent apart allowed them to gain maturity, a better understanding of themselves, and a better perspective on the magic produced when the three of them were together. The healing began when Robin called Barry and suggested that they should try to work things out and work together. As the three came together, both professionally and personally, they began putting together what became "Two Years On", the next Bee Gees album. That album contained "Lonely Days", which became the Brothers first #1 single in the US, and their first gold US single. The release of the album "Trafalgar" later in 1971 further solidified the Brothers. That album contained "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart", a song about the breakup and reconciliation, which also quickly went gold and shot to #1 in the US. The 1972 album "To Whom It May Concern" produced the single "Run To Me", another huge hit. However, the 1973 album "Life In A Tin Can" produced no major hits, and the Brothers were becoming dissatisfied with their direction. Their label, and most everyone else, weren't particularly happy with their direction, either---the Bee Gees were felt to have "run their course". Meanwhile, Eric Clapton had recorded his phenomenally successful "comeback" album "461 Ocean Boulevard" at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. Talking to Eric revealed that he had found the Miami-Criteria experience revitalizing and inspiring. Eric suggested that the Bee Gees might consider doing the same. Thus in 1974, the Bee Gees came to work with R & B-based Arif Mardin, who produced their next release, "Mr. Natural." While not a huge commercial success, "Mr. Natural" contained many new sounds (for the Brothers) and definitely showed the influences of their new people on their singing and songwriting.

In 1975, the Brothers returned to join Arif Mardin, this time at Criteria. Out of this collaboration came the major shift in direction of "Main Course". The album brought the Brothers closer to the R & B influences they'd always loved and felt, just when the music world was focusing on R & B dance music. "Main Course" was just that---a tremendous serving of Bee Gees rock and soul, including the "bridge to Criteria"-inspired "Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway (during the recording of this Barry discovered his ability to sing in falsetto)", "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)", "Wind of Change", and "Edge of the Universe". The Brothers Gibb were back on top, commercially and creatively, as "Main Course" went gold and platinum, both "Nights on Broadway" and "Jive Talkin'" shot to #1, and "Jive Talkin'" was a gold single. A change of record label in the US in 1976 meant Arif Mardin wasn't available to them for their next album, but the Brothers had learned well from him. 1976's "Children of the World" went gold and platinum, both "You Should Be Dancing" and "Love So Right" were gold singles, and "You Should Be Dancing" went to #1 as well. The album also included such songs as "Boogie Child", "Lovers", and "Can't Keep A Good Man Down". Yet amazingly the true heights were still to come.
For their next studio album, the Bee Gees chose to record at the Chateau D' Herouville (immortalized by Elton John as the "Honky Chateau"). At the same time, Robert Stigwood was

developing his movie about the dance culture in New York City, based on the article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night". He needed music for the movie, and knew just where to find it. Thus the Bee Gees gave up the entirety of their studio album to that point---"More Than A Woman", "If I Can't Have You", "How Deep Is Your Love", "Night Fever", and, of course, "Stayin' Alive"---and "Saturday Night Fever" gained the music which propelled it into the stratosphere. The soundtrack to "SNF" became the best-selling album ever (a title it held until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" took over), and it remains the best-selling soundtrack album to this day. While their songs from "SNF" climbed the charts, the Brothers mixed and readied what was their first live album (and their next release), "Here At Last...Bee Gees Live!". "How Deep Is Your Love", their next single, went to #1 and went gold before the "SNF" movie was even released. "Night Fever" and "Stayin' Alive" both were #1 hits, and both went gold and platinum. "If I Can't Have You", written by the Brothers and as recorded by Yvonne Elliman, also was a #1 gold single. The "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack album itself was #1 for 24 weeks, and at the time went gold and platinum 14 times over. "Saturday Night Fever" took the Bee Gees from being merely chart-topping stars (!) for the second time in their careers to absolute superstardom. It was in 1978 that the Bee Gees had the #1 single, the #1 album, and 5 songs (as artist and/or songwriter) in the Top 10 at the same time in Billboard, Cashbox, and Record World magazines. It was around this same time that the Brothers became based in Miami Beach, Florida, and began looking for a place for their studio to call home. They had already begun helping brother Andy achieve his own stardom, as "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" hit #1 in 1976. "Here At Last...Bee Gees Live!" went gold and platinum. The Brothers began work on the movie "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with Peter Frampton. The Bee Gees, or their music, were everywhere: movies, radio, TV, belt buckles, necklaces, school lunch boxes, notebooks, and more.

Unfortunately, with all this acclaim, the inevitable dark cloud peeked its head over their horizon. As the filming of "Sgt. Pepper" wore on, it became increasingly clear to all three that the film --- using only the music of the Beatles to advance the storyline, no dialogue --- was a dog. The Brothers begged to get out of the movie several times, but they had to remain. The film was pounded critically and at the box office, often because Robert Stigwood had dared to "defile", in critics' words, the Beatles' classic in such an off-beat way. The Bee Gees emerged from the film tired, but with their musical careers intact.
The Brothers went back to the studio, and from there emerged with "Spirits Having Flown", their critically-acclaimed 1979 classic. Filled with many musical styles, the Brothers showed the versatility of their songwriting. "Spirits" stayed at #1 for six weeks, produced the hits "Tragedy", "Too Much Heaven", and "Love You Inside Out", and pushed their 1979 stadium tour of the world to sold-out status.
Once the tour was finished, the Brothers took a breather to write and produce for other artists. While all three wrote for the album, Barry handled the production and sang on Barbra Streisand's wildly successful "Guilty" album (the most successful album of her career). Robin, meanwhile, produced other Gibb compositions for the album "Sunrise", by Jimmy Ruffin. The Osmonds were at the same time putting Maurice's producing talents to good use on their album "Steppin' Out". However, out in the pop music world, there were the beginning grumblings of those who said that disco music was "lightweight" and "insignificant". Anything which becomes extraordinarily popular, at least in the US, soon becomes a whipping boy for critics. Disco was no exception. The music and mainstream media began looking for its "whipping boy".

The next studio album for the Brothers became 1981's "Living Eyes". Once again, the album was stylistically very different from "Spirits", which preceded it. The album was by turns lush, raw, pounding, slick. It was good. Unfortunately, while the album was coming together for release, the media found its whipping boy --- or boys --- for disco, and they were aimed straight
at the Bee Gees. Despite the fact that the Brothers had produced and had danceable hits nearly three years before "Fever", despite the fact that the Bee Gees music was much more R & B than disco, and despite the fact that the Brothers Gibb had never embraced either disco fashion or its lifestyle, none of this mattered. Music media and DJ's from coast to coast laid the "blame" for disco squarely at the feet of Barry, Maurice, and Robin. This was the atmosphere into which "Living Eyes" was released. The music business was having none of it. "Living Eyes", and its single, "He's A Liar", were lackluster performers, to be charitable. In the face of the media hostility, and preoccupied with various lawsuits involving their label, RSO; their finances; and their management; the Bee Gees were ready for another break.
1982 found Robin and Mo working on writing and producing Robin's first solo album since 1970, the 1983 release "How Old Are You?". The album, and its single, "Juliet" , did well in Europe, particularly Germany. Another cut from the album, "Another Lonely Night In New York", achieved some success in the US. Barry was in the meantime producing an album of Gibb-brothers' compositions for Dionne Warwick, her album "Heartbreaker". That album, and the single of the same name, became Warwick's most successful. Barry followed this with producing Kenny Rogers' album "Eyes That See In The Dark", again an album of Gibb-brothers' penned songs. This album contained a tasty duet with Dolly Parton, the song "Islands In The Stream". "Islands" became a super smash hit, topping both the country and the pop charts. To this day, though, relatively few people realize just who wrote "Islands" --- the Brothers Gibb, who were then being roundly dismissed as disco lightweights by the media.
1983 also brought the release of "Stayin' Alive", the movie sequel to "Saturday Night Fever". The movie flopped badly, but it brought another couple of hits to the Bee Gees: "Someone Belonging to Someone", and the much more successful "The Woman In You". The music video made for "The Woman In You" is, certainly arguably, one of their best concept videos, and it featured (besides them) Cynthia Rhodes from the "Stayin' Alive" movie (and later, Penny in the movie "Dirty Dancing").
Still pursuing other projects, the Brothers wrote and produced the album "Eaten Alive" for Diana Ross, which was definitely an R & B album. Its single "Chain Reaction" gave Diana her biggest solo hit ever in the UK. Next on the plate for Maurice and Robin was the writing and producing of Robin's next solo album, "Secret Agent". Meanwhile, Barry recorded his solo album "Now Voyager", and starred in and co-produced the long-form concept film, also titled "Now Voyager", which accompanied it. The single "Boys Do Fall In Love" from Robin's album did become a minor hit, but the subsequent release of "In Your Diary" and "Secret Agent" stirred little interest. The single from "Now Voyager", "Shine Shine", was a modest Top 40 hit for Barry. As 1985 dawned, the material for Barry's second solo, "Moonlight Madness", instead later became part of the soundtrack for the movie "Hawks". Once again in the studio, Robin and Mo wrote and produced Robin's fourth solo effort, "Walls Have Eyes". This album included the single "Toys", which should have attracted major attention, but for a lot of reasons, it didn't.
It was time for a little rest, reflection, and redirection of the Bee Gees' own careers. Once again, the Brothers called upon Arif Mardin, and together they produced the 1987 release "E.S.P.". The album's first single, "You Win Again", was a major success, hitting #1 in many places. It was virtually ignored in the US, though, as were the many other mold-breaking songs on it, such as "This Is Your Life", "Crazy For Your Love" (author's note: the next time you hear Rod Stewart's 1991 "The Motown Song", compare the "doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo" opening to the opening of "Crazy For Your Love"), "E.S.P." and "Backtafunk". To radio stations (who of course never bothered to listen to "E.S.P."), the Bee Gees still equalled disco, and, of course, "disco sucked".
March of 1988 brought to the Brothers the tragedy of youngest brother Andy's death in England. From Andy's death the Brothers drew the resolve that their careers and their music were vital to their lives, and they headed to the studio with renewed purpose. Thus was born 1989's "One", which they dedicated in its entirety to Andy. "One" was the album which returned the Brothers Gibb to the US charts, and with a vengeance. The US single, the title track "One", reached #7, while in Europe, the single "Ordinary Lives" did well. All the renewed interest let the Bee Gees reach out to their fans with their first world tour since the "Spirits Having Flown" tour of '79. With "One", the refurbishing of the Bee Gees in the media's eyes (the fans were always with them) took baby steps forward.
Successful completion of the "One" tour meant time back home, which of course meant the Brothers were headed back to their studio for the follow-up album to "One", 1991's "High Civilization". Despite the success of the single "Secret Love" in Europe, the album was mostly ignored in the US. Not the presence on the album of cuts with radically new sounds (for the Bee Gees)---"Party With No Name", "Human Sacrifice", and certainly "Dimensions" --- nor the presence of more familiar harmonies in the danceable "Secret Love" and "When He's Gone", could persuade the US radio business to listen. There might have been a crack in the resistance to the Bee Gees with "One", but "High Civilization" didn't widen the crack. The US media still wasn't distanced enough in time from disco to look favorably at the Bee Gees. That didn't change much with 1993's "Size Isn't Everything". "Size" was again full of familiar sounds and new directions, and "Paying The Price Of Love" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" were modest hits outside the US. Still, the US ignored the Bee Gees. What were the Brothers going to have to do to make the US media take notice again?
Apparently, the answer to that question was "Wait." Between 1993 and 1996, the Brothers certainly weren't sitting around doing nothing --- they were working, writing, and readying their next studio album. But they took their time, keeping a fairly low profile. That low profile began to rise again in September, 1996, when it was announced that the Bee Gees would be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in May, 1997. Finally, the Bee Gees would be acknowledged for all their incredible contributions to rock and roll! In October, 1996, the Brothers opened the 1996 VH-1 Fashion Awards with a well-received live performance of "Stayin' Alive".

As 1996 closed, the Brothers finished work on their next studio album, and taped the VH-1 special "Storytellers" (similar to the MTV "Unplugged" specials) for later broadcast.
If the end of 1996 was "looking up", then 1997 was spectacular for the Bee Gees! 1997 was the year when, finally, the tremendous contributions of the Brothers Gibb to rock and roll were recognized worldwide. On January 27, the Brothers received the "International Artist Award" at the American Music Awards, followed on February 24, 1997 by the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Brit Awards in the UK. At the World Music Awards in Monaco, the Bee Gees received the "Lifetime Contribution to Music" award, on April 17. May 6, 1997, brought double pleasure to the Bee Gees, as they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and their new album "Still Waters" was released in the United States. The month of May saw the Bee Gees as "Artist of the Month" on VH-1, and saw the premiere of the
"Storytellers" segment taped in November, along with numerous other features for them. The good news continued as "Still Waters" debuted on the Billboard album charts at #11! In September, the Bee Gees were honored with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame award for their "Lifetime Contribution to Music", and in October they received the BAMBI award and the Golden Europa award in Germany, on the 25th and 26th, respectively. Numerous television appearances were made by the Brothers, including the "Oprah" show, "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, "The Late Show" with David Letterman, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show", "The View", and "Crook and Chase" in the USA. On November 14, 1997, the Brothers performed a live concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to a wildly enthusiastic audience from all over the world. The concert was filmed, and featured special guest Celine Dion, debuting her new duet with the Bee Gees, "Immortality". This was one of two new songs the Brothers had written for the stage show of "Saturday Night Fever". The concert was broadcast on New Year’s Eve, 1997, as a pay-per-view event, and in February and March, in an edited version, on HBO.
The spring of 1998 kept the guys busy writing new songs, for themselves and for other artists. Then on May 5, 1998, the Brothers attended the opening of “Saturday Night Fever” the stage musical in London, where they received a standing ovation, and where the musical received great reviews and ovations of its own. June 5, 1998, found the Bee Gees at a press conference in London, where they announced a worldwide series of “One Night Only” concerts! The rest of early June they spent doing appearances on radio and television in England, Germany, and France, promoting themselves and their up-coming “One Night Only” concerts in Dublin, Ireland on August 29; London, England, on September 5; Pretoria, South Africa, on November 28; Auckland, New Zealand, on March 13, 1999; and in Sydney, Australia, on March 20, 1999. On July 28 in Miami Beach, the Brothers held another press conference, where they announced a “One Night Only” concert for Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 17, as well as the release in South America of the “One Night Only” Las Vegas CD (released September 7 in Europe and November 3 in North America), and the “One Night Only” Las Vegas concert video. The Dublin concert, opened by Irish singer Brian Kennedy, and the London Wembley concert, opened by Australian Tina Arena, were both smash hits, as were Buenos Aires and Pretoria. At each concert, full stadiums of cheering fans kept the Brothers going all night long. The “One Night Only” CD was a great success around the world, and went platinum in several countries.

The beginning of 1999 saw Barry performing an “Evening of Sinatra” at the Love and Hope Ball in Miami Beach, a charity event supporting the 25th Anniversary of the Diabetes Research Institute, which all three Gibbs support. The evening was a smashing success, both in terms of Barry’s performance, which was smooth, sophisticated, and filled with Sinatra songs given the unique Barry Gibb styling, and in terms of money raised for the charity. It was thrilling to be present to watch Barry, as he described it, “fulfill a life-long dream of his.” The “One Night Only” concert filmed in Las Vegas was used as part of the spring Pledge Drive attractions for the Public Broadcasting television stations around the U.S., and was very successful for them! The concerts in Auckland on March 20 and in Sydney on March 27, 1999, were outstanding, with attendance in Auckland of about 43,000 and in Sydney of about 65,000. Several BGFC members were able to attend the sound checks in each city, and they got great insight into what goes into preparing for a concert, as well as having a ball! In May, the installation of a new sound board was completed at Middle Ear Studios, which allowed the Brothers to continue recording their new album using the latest in technology. Summer and fall of ‘99 gave the Brothers time to begin putting the tracks for the new album together. December 22, 1999, marked the 50th birthdays of Maurice and Robin, and the family had a terrific party for the two of them! New Year’s Eve, 1999, saw the Bee Gees’ Millennial concert at the National Car Rental Center Arena in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The concert was a blast for both the Brothers and the fans, and was the best (and last) concert in the “One Night Only” series. The year 2000 saw the Brothers finish recording the songs for the new album, and participate in the interviews for the two-hour A&E “Biography” of them, which was broadcast first on December 10, 2000. They contributed many rare clips for it as well. It was an excellent overview of the Brothers’ lives and careers. Maurice, meanwhile, worked with his kids as they worked on their singing career, while Barry and Robin spent the summer on their private business interests and a vacation in England.
The year 2001 brought the Bee Gees’ 28^th studio album, titled “This Is Where I Came In”, and the first single was the song of the same name. The album was released in April 2001. The Brothers did many promotional appearances in support of the album thus far, including appearances on BBC Radio 2, on the Michael Parkinson show on BBC 1, and “Wetten Dass” in Europe, and “Good Morning America” (to which the BGFC supplied VIP admission passes to its members!), “The Late Show with David Letterman”, and “Rosie O’Donnell” in the US, many radio and print interviews, and promotions in Hong Kong! On April 27, 2001, the Brothers did A&E “Live By Request Special Edition”, a full two hours of songs requested by phone and online. They played songs both from “This Is Where I Came In” — “This Is Where I Came In”, “She Keeps On Coming”, “Sacred Trust”, “Man In The Middle”, and “Wedding Day” --- as well as classics such as “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”, “Lonely Days”, and “How Deep Is Your Love”. It was a fantastic evening, one that the BGFC was thrilled to be able to offer tickets for to many of its members. We had a great time, and many of us went out to dinner to celebrate the evening afterward! In June, the Brothers appeared at the Wango Tango festival in Los Angeles, and appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, and taped an appearance for “Larry King Live”. Preparations then began for the November, 2001, release of “The Bee Gees: Their Greatest Hits: The Record”, including recording new versions or adding to versions of “Islands In The Stream”, “Heartbreaker”, and “Emotion”. The CD also included Barry’s duet with Barbra Streisand, “Guilty”, and the original demo version, sent to Celine Dion, of “Immortality”.

2002 began with the Gibbs receiving one of the highest honors they could receive, as they were named “Commanders of the British Empire” on the Queen’s New Year’s Day Honors list! They are now entitled to use the letters “C.B.E.” after their names. On February 23, the Brothers entertained at the “Love and Hope Ball”, a charity event for the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami. On June 6, 2002, Maurice opened his own paintball store, Commander Mo’s Paintball Shop, in North Miami Beach! The opening was attended by Mo’s paintball friends, some fans, and much of the family. The rest of the year included Barry working with son Stephen, on a proposed album for Stephen, and Robin working on his various interests and projects, which at the end of September became his new solo CD, “Magnet”! Maurice worked throughout 2002 with Samantha and Laz on their proposed CD and on getting their career going, and on his passion, paintball and his new store. His team, the Royal Rat Rangers, played in several tournaments throughout the year, and showed great improvement in their standings over 2001! On November 7, Stephen Gibb married Gloria Levas, while on November 9, Ashley Gibb married Terese Hallman. At the end of 2002, Barry and Linda became grandparents for the first time, as Steve and Gloria were blessed with daughter Nina on December 27!
The beginning of 2003 brought the unbelievable to us. On January 12, 2003, our beloved Mo passed on after a short illness resulting from a twisted intestine. There aren’t enough words to describe the heartbreak, nor the words to describe what a wonderful, kind, courageous, intelligent, witty, caring, generous, talented, loving man he was. We will love him and miss him always.
Barry and Robin have committed to continuing to make music together in the future. On February 23, the Bee Gees were honored with the Grammy “Legend Award”, which Barry, Robin, and Adam Gibb accepted at the Grammy ceremonies in New York. Robin spent most of 2003 making European appearances and promoting his CD “Magnet”, and the singles “Please” and “Wait Forever”. He appeared as a judge on “American Idol”, which for the first time had all contestants sing songs by only one artist/group! Later in the year, Robin participated in the UK’s “Fame Academy”, helping young artists there. Highly impressed by “Fame Academy” runner-up Alistair Griffin, Robin recorded a duet of “A Lover’s Prayer” with him! On October 22, the Bee Gees were once again honored with the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the World Awards. Barry, while not making public appearances, continued working in Miami on various projects. On December 28, Barry and Linda became grandparents for a second time, when Ashley and Terese were blessed with their son, Lucas.
2004 has seen a return to more normal activities for the Brothers. In January, Barry appeared at a charity gala benefiting the New World School, singing several songs. On February 28, Barry performed at the Love and Hope Ball, singing standards such as “Swinging On A Star”, “ My Kind of Town”, and “Three Coins In The Fountain”. On May 12, Barry and Robin were honored by the University of Manchester, UK, with Honorary Doctorate of Music degrees. The same day, they also dedicated the Maurice Gibb Recording Studio at the Chorlton High School in Manchester. On May 27, Robin and Barry traveled to Buckingham Palace, where Prince Charles presented them with their CBE medals. Adam Gibb accepted the CBE medal for Maurice. On July 4, Robin sang at the US’ Independence Day celebration in Washington, D.C., “A Capitol Fourth”.