The Gibb brothers were brought up in Australia. Barry, Robin, and Maurice the eldest Gibb brothers then, started The Bee Gees as a family band in 1958. As the Bee Gees, they have sold more than 220 million records worldwide.
Their soundtrack has become a pop cultural phenomenon. With countless awards, five Grammys, and Album of The Year for 1978, they really were on top of their game for a long time. However, sadly, only Barry the eldest brother survives to this day.
Maurice died at the age of 53 in 2003, and his twin brother Robin died in 2012 at the age of 62. The youngest brother, Andy died at the age of 30 in 1988. Andy was the only one who was not part of the band.
We can only imagine how Barry must continue living a day longer without his brothers by his side. But we believe their greatest hits are still with him, and it makes the day more bearable for him. The Bee Gees will always be an icon. Everyone loves them. Neil Portnow, who was the CEO of The Recording Academy from 2002 to 2019 commented.
“The Bee Gees were international musical icons who helped make Saturday Night Fever an emblem of 1970s pop culture. The iconic band of brothers defined not just a genre, but a generation.”
However, that has not been the case for the most part. The Bee Gees were mostly viewed as uncool. Their vocals, hair, and even their disco outfits were mocked. Barry remembers that they were often times regarded as ‘Poster boys for disco’ and when the genre went out of fashion, so did the band.
Barry commented, “There was a time when it wasn’t cool to even be seen with The Bee Gees.”
But later on, they did receive the respect they deserved. Still, to this day they are considered one of the best bands in the world. Barry has talked about it. “Noel Gallagher told me he always listened to my music. That to me is staggering because in the period when Oasis became big, we were gone. That was not our time.”
They have been respected by many other artists like Frankie Vallie, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, and others. Barry has also talked about the arguments he had with his brothers back in the day. He revealed,
“I remember lots of intense arguments, not speaking to each other for weeks, and then coming back together again. It doesn’t stop you being brothers. We broke up in 1969, and yet my brothers came to my wedding in 1970 and we started talking again – and suddenly we were back in the studio.” He also added,
“Everything had to be unanimous. If one of us was unhappy about anything, we wouldn’t do it.”
