The Bee Gees
 The Bee Gees - the name is an acronym of
"The Brothers Gibb" - are indisputably one of the most popular recording
acts of all time. Maurice, Barry and Robin Gibb have sold more
than 100 million records.
The trio were so incredible in the 1960s in a psychedelic pop
way and yet transitioned so comfortably into the disco mire.
With
their bizarre falsetto warblings and their satin-trousered,
open-shirted, blow-waved and bearded rugged looks The Bee Gees
were a veritable 70s icon, and most people remember them for their
work on three movies; Saturday Night Fever, Sgt
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Grease (whose
title song they wrote).
As balladeers, The Bee Gees probably have no equal, and their
recorded output has almost been surpassed by the sheer number of
songs they have written for other artists (including Diana Ross
and Barbra Streisand).
Only John Lennon and Paul McCartney have
written more number one singles on the American charts than Barry
Gibb.
Listening to a number of their recordings from the sixties, The
Bee Gees sound so completely utterly miserable that Joy Division
and Nirvana sound positively gleeful by comparison. Nevertheless,
the boys have been rightfully inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame and there probably isn't a person on the face of the
planet who doesn't know at least one Bee Gees song.
There has been much talk of The Bee Gees being Australian . . .
They are not. Twins Maurice and Robin Gibb were born on the Isle
of Man on 22 December 1949. They emigrated from Manchester to
Australia with their family in 1958. By 1967 they were on the move
again (back to the UK). So the brothers Gibb spent a grand total
of nine years in Australia. That makes them as Australian as Mel
Gibson . . .
On 11 May 1967, during the group's first Top Of The Pops appearance,
Maurice met Lulu. They married quickly but the relationship
didn't
last and Maurice was quick to admit that his drinking problem was
a major factor in the failure, just as it was in the first Bee
Gees split.. The trio drifted apart until briefly, in 1969,
Maurice was left as the only Bee Gee.
The career of The Bee Gees as we know them effectively came to
an end on 12 January 2003, with the tragic death of Maurice Gibb
in a Miami hospital. Outwardly healthy - he led a paintballing
team in his final weeks - Maurice suffered a heart attack
following surgery for an intestinal condition. He was 53.
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