LONDON: Robin Gibb, singer with the
legendary British band the Bee Gees, died on Sunday aged 62 after a
lengthy battle against cancer, his family said.
Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb scaled the heights of the pop
world in the 1970s with disco hits including “How Deep Is Your
Love”, “Stayin’ Alive”, and “Night Fever”.
The band notched up record sales of more than 200 million since
their first hits in the 1960s.
Gibb underwent bowel surgery 18 months ago for an unrelated
condition but a tumour was found and he was diagnosed with cancer
of the colon and the liver.
Back in February, Gibb said he had made a “spectacular” recovery
from his treatment, sparking hopes that his cancer was in
remission, but recently experienced a sharp deterioration.
The singer fell into a coma last month after contracting
pneumonia, but had raised hopes of survival after making another
recovery.
Gibb was born on December 22, 1949 on the Isle of Man, the
British crown dependency, about half an hour before Maurice.
Soon after the twins were born, the Gibb family moved to
Manchester, northwest England, and then to Brisbane in Australia in
1958.
The Bee Gees soon became child stars and had their first hit in
1963, “The Battle of the Blue and Grey”, performed on national
television.
Gibb’s twin brother Maurice died of a heart attack in 2003
following intestinal surgery.
DJ Paul Gambaccini on Sunday called Gibb “talented beyond even
his own understanding”.
“Everyone should be aware that the Bee Gees are second only to
Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in
British popular music,” he said.
“Their accomplishments have been monumental. Not only have they
written their own number one hits, but they wrote huge hit records
for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Celine Dion,
Destiny’s Child, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, the list goes on
and on.”
Gibb was married twice, to Molly Hullis from 1968 to 1980, and
to author/artist Dwina Murphy-Gibb and is survived by three
children; Spencer, Melissa and Robin-John.
He was made a CBE in the 2002 New Year’s
Honours List, along with his brothers.
- AFP/fa
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RIP
i love how deep is your love, massachusetts and too much
heaven.