 Andy Gibb
Following the international success of his
three older brothers in The Bee Gees, Andy Gibb (born 1958) appeared
as a star in his own right during 1977.
Gibb was born in Manchester,
England and his family emigrated to Australia when he was only months
old. Then in 1967, when Andy was nine, the Gibb family returned to the
UK so The Bee Gees could further their musical career.
Gibb returned to Australia in late 1974 on the advice of his brother
Barry, to make a start on his solo career. He formed a band called
Andy Gibb and Zenta and signed a publishing deal with Col
Joye's
publishing company, Joye Music. Gibb scored support slots to overseas
visitors The Sweet and The Bay City Rollers in 1975. In 1976, Gibb
traveled to Florida to record his debut album Flowing Rivers,
under the direction of Barry Gibb.
He toured America as support
to The Bee Gees and scored three consecutive
Number 1 US hits with I Just
Want To Be Your Everything (August 1977), (Love Is) Thicker
Than Water (1978) and Shadow Dancing (1978). I Just Want
To Be Your Everything was also Number 1 in Australia.
 Andy
scored his two biggest UK hits in 1978 with An Everlasting Love
and (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away. By that stage, Andy
Gibb had almost eclipsed his illustrious brothers in popularity.
Further minor hits followed,
including Desire (Feb 1980), Time Is Time (Jan 1981)
Me (Without You) (June 1981) and a duet with Olivia Newton-John,
I Can't Help It, before Gibb moved into television work and
musical theatre. He co-hosted the US pop show Solid Gold but
was fired at the end of the second season for missing too many
tapings.
He landed the lead role in the Broadway production of
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat but lost that also
after skipping a dozen performances in a month. With his drug and
financial problems resolved, Andy began working on a return to the
music scene.
Tragedy struck on 10 March
1988 however, when Gibb died in Oxford, England of myocarditis, a rare
inflammatory virus of the heart muscle. He was just 30 years old.
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