Brothers Gibb Bee Gees & Andy Gibb Story

The

story

of the Gibb Brothers is a rollercoaster of triumphs and tragedies, setbacks and comebacks, and during a career spanning more than 40 years, they have repeatedly demonstrated a unique ability to reinvent their sound and reconnect with audiences around the world. The journey begins in 1944 in Manchester, England, with the marriage of drummer and bandleader Hugh Gibb to Barbara. The following year, the Gibbs welcomed a baby girl, Leslie, and settled off the coast of Britain on the Isle of Man on 1 September 1946, Barry, the first BG. he was born at 18 months he accidentally knocked over a teapot and was so scalded that he almost died he was in the hospital for three months he was very, very sick he never spoke until he was three and I think that's when those things happen to you in life what What you get from it is incredible strength that made you stronger and more determined.

I think that's what really helped us, you know, start the pattern for his life. The family welcomed two more children on December 22, 1949, when twins Robin and Morris were born, they were not identical in appearance or disposition, dancing. I always had distinctive personalities. Morris was always very friendly, everyone's companion. Robin has always been a bit withdrawn and withdrawn into himself, but when they were together they were equals. I was Mr. Goody. Well, he was very afraid of doing something wrong. Basically I am a very shy person. I have to really get to know someone before I literally reveal myself.

I like to be spontaneous. I like to be fun with people. I like to be relaxed, but you won't understand. which immediately with me Robin always had the twinkle in his eye and of course I think Morris had it too, don't forget the twins, you know, so there was a special, specific way in which they played off each other, so it was just the twins knew Ron and We weren't identical, we're fraternal twins and we have the same sense of humor, we have the same love for the same type of music being twins, uh, I don't think it has much to do with the Bee Gees.

I think we would have been the Bee Gees if that were the case, even if we hadn't been twins. I never thought of Mia Morris apart from Barry. I always saw us three as three equal

brothers

in 1955, the Hughes band had broken up, so on the search. of New Opportunities, moved the family back to Manchester in the Glory Days of the Empire. Manchester was the cotton capital of the world. One of the great industrial centers was now a working class town in decline, as were the Gibb family fortunes to support Barbara and the four children Hugh had two jobs the house was always full of music the

brothers

were influenced by The Mills Brothers and Everly Brothers when Barry was nine and the twins six were already singing in three-part harmony there were quite a few times, when my parents and sister walked into the room, I wondered if the radio was on when we were doing those first things .

One of the Lollipop songs. Robin and I seem to have evolved into two different protagonists and Morris is an expert. harmonist is the right word, but he would always know where to put that other melody, do that to make a three-part harmony when Barry was nine and the twins Maurice and Robin were six, they formed a band called The Rattlesnakes, the musical career of the Bee Gees. It actually started at the movie theater the day before the show, a kid came up on stage and listened to an Elvis Presley record. The brothers were inspired to try it themselves, so we got the guitar and the records we intended to rip, and along the way.

We went to the Gorman Theater and Morris dropped the records. In those days they broke people. We were very disappointed to have missed our chance, but we persuaded the manager to let us go ahead and sing anyway and we just did what we wanted. I made it at home and the kids loved it and I can't. I don't remember that feeling, it was great and we had our first real audience. You know, wow, this is what we want to do walking down the street in Manchester. I remember Barry saying that. day we're going to be really famous and we said, oh yeah, whatever you say, he's the Big Brother you know as pint-sized rockers Barry Robin and Morris frequently performed in local adult theaters in the 1950s, rock and roll It was synonymous with problems and the brothers also found Roman Atwood's house.

I mean, nothing stands in its way now, when I think back, I feel really bad for my parents because if it had been my parents, I would have been pulling my hair out. quite small, as it was Robin, especially, it was very defective. He used to light fires everywhere. Oh yes, you mean the flame. I just said the hedge is burning, like fires under the bed. Yes, I was a bit of a fire bug when I was young. Barry and Robin were constantly getting into trouble. The local authorities confronted Hugh and Barbara suggesting that if they did not want their children to end up in a reformatory, they might want to consider emigrating at the same time as a new member arrived in the Gibb household.

Andy was born in March 1958. Shortly after, the family decided to start over. I had never heard of Australia, just strange words in Australia, kind of an extremely incredible adventure because that was what was in our spirit, that's why we were always getting into mischief the idea of ​​what is around the corner really was inside us, so the idea of ​​going to Australia we didn't even know what it was, but it sounds good, let's try it. The Gibbs settled in Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia known for its sunshine. beautiful beaches and the Great Barrier Reef Hugh took a job as a photographer, bought an eight millimeter camera and the brothers immediately began making home movies.

I was filming them. I was always the guy behind the camera because I've always been the technician, but Byron Robin I wouldn't go so far as to say that there are videotapes where the players are still showing 12, but we film home movies of fights and stuff like that and from people like hostage taking or, you know, people blowing up the tower, you know Visa has come. with some deaf things in Australia the brothers continued their quest for fame to achieve that goal they sang anywhere we always look for the best toilets in town we go and sing there because of the echo and there's a great one I remember in Pitt Street Sydney and I was in the park and it was a great long echo and I mean, we sang These friends sounded like Wreckers the brothers took their performance to a local Speedway where they sang between races and the crowd showed their appreciation by throwing coins Bill Gates, a local disc jockey, was impressed and convinced Hugh and Barbara to let him promote the boys, as the initials BG were everywhere Bill Gates Barbara Gibb Brothers Barry Gibb Gibb, it was suggested that the trio be called The Bee Gees and soon the boys were heard regularly on Gates' radio show in the summer of 1960 The Bee Gees had their next big break the Bee Gees barrier the leader of the group come here Barry Gibb and your young brothers now come on who are you who is who are twins eh me I'm Robert Robin Morris and Morris, you all team up now, uh, that's right, and your brother Barry is playing now, come on, come on, yeah, this was the first of what would be many television appearances over the next few years, plus that you will also participate in EG.

They played clubs and county fairs where they honed their craft as artists with the ACT still in its formative stages. Showbiz veteran Hugh became his manager my dad bless him he has been incredible in our lives he has been the main instigator of everything we learned on stage even down to the little things like when you smile because if you look like a shit and you feel like shit, the audience will smile or smile at you, he showed his professionalism and I was making the clothes to make all the little vests and we. cut up an old pair of evening shoes to make BG and gold leather with little things you know in 1963 their dream of becoming stars took a big step forward they signed a record deal what made the BG unique at this young age was that They weren't Not only singers, they also wrote songs and their first release was a very good original baby.

Oh yeah, we released some of our own songs and couldn't get a hit. We tried to sing a couple of other people's songs and still managed it. We didn't get a hit, so we thought, well, we'll just go back to singing our own songs because you know, if we have flops, at least there are flops, tell me you can't really kiss me twice at this point, the brothers were supporting. family as professional entertainers singing adult songs for adults, but their music and ambitions were instantly transformed in 1964. When Australia, like the rest of the world, was invaded by the British, when the Beatles arrived in Sydney, the magic was incredible. .

I was hypnotized. because they were doing something we love to do and they were successful at it. I loved it because it was a group and they sang a three-part harmony and they sang it as if we were doing it. Nobody seemed very interested in us, the record company, nobody's there, we were doing TV shows, but we were just regular TV acts, we weren't people who had hit records, you know, and that was our dream and at that time our Dream was being blocked, I was totally convinced that the right thing to do was to leave Australia.

We knew that if we were going to make it internationally we had to leave Australia and go to London just before leaving the country. The Bee Gees recorded One Last Song. talk and specs In my head, the VGs made a lasting impression on his younger brother, Andy. Andy watched his brothers perform from backstage, marveling at what he saw, and dreamed of being an artist too, and it was his older brother, Barry, who encouraged Andy's love of music. Barry bought Andy, her first guitar at the age of nine, she used to stand in the middle of them when they rehearsed, let them imagine, we moved it, but yes, she always liked to be where they sang with her family, she emulated Barry a lot.

You know, and he thought a lot about his older brother, you know, so he had a kind of hero worship for him. In January 1967, the entire Gibb family boarded a ship that would take them back to England, while at sea they received unexpected news and specs had reached number one in Australia but there was no turning back. The Bee Gees were sailing into uncharted waters and possibly treacherous in February 1967 when the Bee Gees arrived in England the music scene was still dominated by the Beatles and in whose path could come the Rolling Stones, The Who and many other successful groups, the Bee Gees were determined to be the next big thing novelty, but his optimism was immediately challenged by a random encounter with another group.

When we got off the boat, there were these four guys standing around. on the pier it was night and there was a thick fog and the four and these four guys were dressed exactly like the Beatles were dressed in hell they said they were a group they failed the group and they said the groups are over and they said you know come back, come back and we would go back to where it took us five weeks to get here, you know, again, it's like resilience, no matter what was thrown at us, it was just another obstacle to get out of the way. we're going to make it we're going to be famous the Bee Gees returned to England from Australia with dreams of becoming British pop stars before leaving Australia the Bee Gees had sent demo tapes to potential agents and record company managers in London, no one was interested except for Robert Stigwood, who at the time was associated with the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein.

Stigwood liked what he heard and called them in for an audition looking a bit like Oscar Wilde. I always felt like this day he was a little bit the worst to use when He came down, but I'm being nice, Robert. They say I fell asleep, which is nonsense. We did our club act even from a Peter Paul and Mary section. We did about four or five songs and I had two people next to me. He then got up and nodded at them and they all left and that was it and they came home and they were really heartbroken they said it was just a waste of time the Bee Gees think Stickwood hadn't really listened to them they were wrong That night he called to offer the brothers a five-year contract.

I had the instinct to tell myself that they would be sensational because you can't deny the talent and Nutella was so obvious that the link between Bob Stickwood and the Bee Gees was very close and the relationship was like that of The Beatles episode for Bob Stigwood, the Bee Gees to his children and it was like a family, almost anything, Robert loved them and believed in them. It was a bit of a complex relationship at times, but it certainly worked. he took the world to the Bee Gees very, very quickly and I don't think at that particular time anyone else could have done that job and, uh, what's happening to us today is because of what he did in a fewmonths, his new manager, Robert.

Stigwood was making this happen, it was all like a fantasy come true, the place we had left before was suddenly the place we wanted to be. You know, professionally, the first thing the bgs had to do was expand from a vocal trio to a true trio. rock band They added two Australian musicians, Colin Peterson on drums and Vince Millenium, lead guitar. Robert Stigwood sat there and said, "You're going to do it and I'm going to make sure you do it," and he never made a negative comment about whether it might work or not, this is where we're going and that's it, in case I something happens, there's something I'd like everyone to see, it's just a photographer, someone I knew, have you seen my wife, Mr.

Jones? increase your sound and become a real band. The Bee Gees added two musician friends from Australia, Colin Peterson on drums and Vince Maloney on lead guitar, the new group recorded their first single, and Stigwood mounted a bold advertising campaign declaring them the biggest new musical talents of 1967. Wow. , speaking of us, oh my gosh, that's something right up there. That's how Stigwood wanted to launch the Bee Gees and he didn't want to do it halfway, he knew he wanted to make an impact and the only word in doing so is throwing gold and they were compared to the Beatles from the word Co, which really was a compliment, It's definitely the pressure we needed to inspire us.

A mining disaster appeared in New York. In the spring of 1967, it really cut through almost everything else on the radio like a simple beacon through the fog because there was a strong narrative song that created a mood that made people realize that there were some new

story

tellers. really good at popular music in less than six. For months, the Bee Gees had gone from unknowns on the Southampton docks to top 20 hits on both sides of the Atlantic, they found themselves instantly engulfed in the hurricane of first fame, but at that moment, just as our heads They were about to explode, you know, Robert sat us down.

I crouched down and said now I want you to listen to me, you haven't made it, you have to press record, don't blow it all out of proportion when you've had five hit records, I'll tell you what you've made a key element of your success was the emotional depth. of their sound The Bee Gees had always been fans of Soul music recognizing this Stigwood arranged a meeting with a legendary Soul artist he introduced me to Otis Redding and we sat in the suite and chatted for a while and Robert said: I want you to write a song throughout his writing and well we'll certainly try you know a little bit delighted because you know we were big fans and um to love someone was born that night to love someone. to love someone like I love you Robert came out that night and said I'll leave you alone tonight when I get back I want to hear another destroyer song oh thank you Robert, you know that, and I just said I was young enough and ambitious enough.

Enough, of course, I'll do it right away, you know, so I sang the body of that song. Mr. Robert when he came in said thank you, that's what I want and when I got back to England we finished the song. Together reading he died. before he could record To Love Someone so the brothers cut it themselves making it one of his most beloved songs abroad. I think once Massachusetts became the number one record in England, River's first number one, you can guess how you're going to feel when you get your personality because it's something you always wanted to have.

It was kind of a fulfillment of what we wanted to do. We leave Australia. This is a kind of confirmation of our belief in ourselves. It's like, yeah, we did the right thing. What impressed me so much in terms of BG is that the harmonies were incredible, very, unique, very distinctive. Foreign was the adjective for what they were doing. From the moment they appeared on American radio, it's like they sounded like the Bee Gees. I don't know anyone who can sing harmony as naturally as them, uh, you know, get them in a room here and ask them to sing right away.

You're a Sail by Perfect Harmony, BG's singular sound also features the presence of two distinct frontmen. vocal styles Barry's passionate, soulful delivery and Robin's ethereal vibrato still make me cold when I listen to it, that vibrato was killer you know, and the more we could use it, the better it was a vulnerable instrument in a very forceful way because he didn't had any competition in pop music there was no other voice like his eat all these things about the joke but for me an undeniable strength of the Bee Gees has always been their songwriting like John Lennon and Paul McCartney the brothers sometimes worked separately at Sometimes together they quickly proved to be prolific composers.

I think there's an affinity between the Bee Gees and the Beatles, particularly with their early material, in tying together very good choruses, very good melodies that stick in the mind, and that in itself is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. You had to listen to these songs once they came out, you had to listen to them because they were so magnetic and they cast a spell in a very penetrating way in their personal directness. BG's greatest strength had always been their unbreakable family bond. While on the surface, everything seemed wonderful, the truth was that success, love and the trappings of fame were destroying the Bee Gees. 16 months.

BG's life changed completely. They made three albums and had nine hit singles. They became famous. They got money. They got girls. It went crazy, everything was great, but it was too much after BG's third album was released in the summer of 1968. Guitarist Vince Maloney left the band when the group went into the studio to begin work on their fourth album. Tensions Rose when the BGs began in 1969 was riding a two-year wave of success, but deep divisions were emerging between the brothers that threatened everything they had worked so hard for. It's very difficult to be successful in the rock and roll business.

It's harder to maintain success because of the pressures. you are so great you are always on demand you are always coming and going you cannot escape fame which is a kind of prison for young people we needed that opacity for separate lives where not everything was based on what the other did the tendency is always to say damn I'm a BG, I'd rather be Barry or I'd rather be Robin or much better than me Maurice, same with the Beatles you know, they got the second part of being a veto, they wanted to be their own people with their own recognition interests were happening romantic relationships and jealousy was happening, you know, I just call it immaturity for me, a lot of what happened in that breakup was because too many things happened too soon, what happened was drugs, potty and fizz.

You know that each of us took different drugs or whatever, you know that Robin took some pills, that he probably even smoked a joint or if I had a drink, mine was alcohol the whole way we stopped getting to know each other, we stopped feeling each other's feelings. another and that's another lesson, you know that's what drugs do that's what that's what drinks we lost contact with each other I Barry Morris didn't really talk as much as we used to and so you know there was some kind of dispute If Robin said something about me, the same journalist would come to me and ask me, did you know Robin said that? and vice versa.

I don't think we were mature enough to stop it. I think we enjoy the publicity, so the press will prosper and we will prosper. In that there have always been two very forceful personalities, uh, in the Bee Gees, and that is Barry Gibb and Robin. The poor couple was in the middle, I didn't know what was happening, yes, it's the story of my life. Morris really found himself on both sides. of the growing battle Torn between Barry and Robin's conflicting ambitions, and Robin believing that Stigwood was giving Barry more attention, he became resentful of the group about to release their fourth album, the atmosphere surrounding the brothers had become charged with suspicion. and distrust what really happened is first.

In May the album came out and everyone opted for the first of May as the side and Barry sang the lead role on that one and on the other side it was Lamplight, which Robin wanted to sing lead role, so Robert chose a May Day and that and he was biased towards Barry Robin said Oh that's it, I had it because he thought it was done on purpose. Robin left the group and began working on a solo album. He isolated himself from the family, disturbed by his erratic behavior. Behavior Hugh and Barbara attempted to make 19-year-old Robin a ward of the court.

It was a completely strange episode of Our Lives. That particular one didn't make sense to me, it doesn't make sense now, but it happened and it was a bit of a strange feeling the whole time it was happening. Robin's first solo single, Saved by the Bell, rose to number two in the UK charts. Barry and Morris continued as the Bee Gees did, mind you, which also reached number two. Barry. Morris and Colin continued as the Bee Gees with their sister Leslie replacing Robin's voice in one performance. The shortened version of the group appeared in Stigwood's comedy film. in a series of solo projects I would never have imagined at the time, however, that the Bee Gees would get back together, it didn't seem like that would happen again.

I knew they would eventually get back together, I mean, Blood Thicker Than. Water, they were brothers, the time we spent apart was basically a difficult time for the three of us emotionally because even though we broke up as a group, I don't think we really meant to say we wanted to, we miss each other so desperately musically and as brothers, you know? We are brothers and this couldn't continue even if we were no longer a group, we couldn't go on without speaking to each other for our entire lives after months of trying to find the best way to bridge the gap between them.

The brothers were finally ready to unite as the Bee Gees. It was a little nervous working together again. The first thing we recorded was How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, which was written in the afternoon and on lonely days that night, and two number one records. which we had no idea would be lonely days it was an instrument I was playing the opening on the piano Barry and Robin came and we started singing it and before we knew it the song was taking shape we were like new, it was like fresh it was the energy that each one had when expressing what they had learned by being part, everything came to light in that week and it was brilliant, it was a wonderful session together and as brothers before and I think we came back together as three three boys where we respected the space, each other's interests and opinions, if anything, that was the good thing that came out of writing about the problems they faced as brothers, they had created music that felt deeply singing about separation and reconciliation, about love . lost and found essentially telling their own story they reconnected with their audience Shining Sun I don't think people expected them to come back to reform or come back with music that was so sure that the Gibb brothers had survived their breakup and made a comeback triumphant to the top of the charts there was every reason to hope that their second career would be even more successful than their first, but the Bee Gees were in for a rude awakening.

In the '70s, the Bee Gees enjoyed a brief run of success until Me was their fourth top 20 hit since reuniting, but by mid-1972 their comeback had stalled and record sales were slowing. The beaches went through a rough patch at a time when popular music was very transitory and people were looking for something new. Instead of the tried and true, the Bee Gees were having a very difficult time trying to figure out where to take their uniqueness, how to reinvent themselves, you know, and remain distinctive. In the early 70s, the music world changed. British pop had faded in favor of the Hard Rock popularity of Led Zeppelin and The Who the Bee Gees faded when they were children, the brothers had seen their father's fortunes change when big bands went out of fashion, now they were passing to them 1970-74 we couldn't, we couldn't sell. records to save our lives I guess what happens is that at the end of each decade the whole business says well, everyone from the last decade took a step left and everyone who wants to be great in the new decade comes in, so the business treated us.

So, the media in England on the radio basically said, "Well, the Bee Gees are finished, you know?" and like many groups like us, it was the end of our Pew in search of a more contemporary sound, their manager, Robert Stigwood, paired the Bee. Gees with legendary rb producer Eric Martin released the album Mr Natural in 1974 which did not reach the top 100. However, it was an important transition as it awakened his passion for soul music. As I understand it, at the end of 1974 the Bee Gees began performing in the British nightclub. circuit, the Gibb family fell, the younger brother had the talent to succeed as the Bee Gees at the age of 15 with theblessing of his family and put everything on the line when he left school to pursue a career in music that he hoped would break into the business.

Upon joining his brother's group, Barry took a special interest in Andy's group as an artist, he and Andy shared a very unique and close bond with me. Andy was extremely close in February 1974, at the age of 16, Andy formed his own band called Melody Fair, the name was taken from a BG song Melody pair quickly exhausted his opportunities on the Isle of Man in 1975 Barbara decided to take the band to Australia where the Bee Gees had had success in the 1960s while he was in Australia being the younger brother of the Bee Gees and drew a lot of attention, he was in constant demand for television talk shows and other guest appearances despite having only 16 years old.

Andy understood some of the problems in the industry from the beginning and imposed strict rules on the band: he did not tolerate alcohol or drugs before or after performances throughout his career. was being watched from afar by one of the most successful moguls in music, Robert Stigwood, the man behind the success of the Bee Gees, if anyone can do it, if anyone can make Andy a star, he would leave us, they would, that is in fullness. I guess it was sensational. What did you learn from your brothers? I don't know, it's nothing, actually you could say one point that I learned, it's just a general experience of handling everything, just being around them, you know, I never mixed with people my age, I was always around them and Television Studios , you know, and they just conceived us, so working in this way and not just following in the footsteps of his brothers, which he didn't want either, the best thing would be to form a band.

The way and learned the hard way formed a new band called Zenta and signed with a record label ATA. Andy wanted to prove that he was worthy of a contract with Stigwood. He showed his talent by writing the song Words and Music, which became a hit. the Australian charts as 1974 gave way to 1975 the Bee Gees were ready for a new beginning their old friend Eric applauded and then, on the brink of their own comeback, suggested the brothers try Miami's legendary Criteria studios with Martin air producing again , they started recording in criterion we were coming back from the studio and every time you leave criterion there is a bridge and the bridge is rickety and it makes a noise when you go over it and every night I hear the same thing and I heard it every night, so one night we were going there and the car must have been traveling at a certain speed and the beat felt really good and I started singing along with it and it became I don't know where the term talk came from.

It just popped into my head, as it usually does if I have an idea for a song, it's not something I asked for, it just comes and this was something and I thought, wait, I have to sing this tomorrow, not when I get home. We sang the idea to them and actually wrote the entire song that night. The main course of the foreign album was a radical departure for the Bee Gees. Most of the album was funky and uptempo. Seoul resorted to an old trick. Stigwood sent the first single to radio stations. With a blank label that doesn't include the group name, Jive Talking went to number one when I first heard Dave speak.

He had no idea he was a BG. Everyone said who was the broken heart of the BG, Bee Gees, are you kidding me? And that changed our entire career with Main. Of course, the BG had scored their first number one record in four years. Nights on Broadway, the second hit single from the Main Course album, introduced a key ingredient to BG's new sound. Yeah, maybe just on most of the vocal tracks and usually at the end you know I know you have some ad-libs or some kind of thing to get us away from the Original Melody and have fun, you know?

Then Barry said, I love trying. I went out on my own and experimented and started responding like it was my fault. everything you know, claim it and yeah, okay, this is just what we're looking for, okay, let's do more of that. The Bee Gees hit the road with their exciting new music. Mania was taking root in America. No one could have predicted what would happen. What happened next, in 1975, the Bee Gees made a surprising return with an album produced by Eric Martin, but the brothers were distraught to learn that for bad contractual reasons they would have to make the next album without him, but Martin told the Gibbs not to worry because they could. on their own and he was right, seemingly overnight the brother's songwriting had evolved from orchestral pop to a mix of white r b soul and dance music Children of the World was a huge hit and the single You Should Be Dancing shot to number one in the summer. from 1976.

Yes, I think I owe it to my brothers who produce my records. My brother Barry, who helps me. You know, if I have trouble writing a song, he always put me in the right direction and always directed my career. Andy was someone. He could always talk to those who always talked to me and because we both had a kind of sense of isolation growing up, so we were extremely close and that's why we ended up making records together, it seemed like the natural way to move forward. preparing Andy as a performer in Australia stigwood thought it was time for him to record his first album Andy moved to Miami Florida to record the new album Barry produced Andy's recording session analyzing Andy's first two singles that was when it was that was when he was at his best was when he was in his breath at that age wanting to be successful not having success but having the hunger music was everything music was everything the album flowing rivers was released in 1977. in an instant Andy achieved his dream of becoming a flowing star Rivers enjoyed great success the first two singles from the album I just want to be your everything and love is thicker than water reached number one on the charts water you are but he had a charisma on stage, You know, something that shows up in Andy when you saw the video on the new TV shows, he had a stage presence, he was a natural, he had a charm, no matter one on one or in front of 20,000 people in a venue, when he acted, he commanded. that audience had them in the palm of their hand, you know, oh, with their younger brother's career successfully launched, the Bee Gees got to work on their next album after a month of hard work, the creative flow of the brother was interrupted by a call from Robert Stigwood.

He needed music for a small movie he was producing, but Stigwood had bought the film rights to a New York Magazine article, Tribal Rites from Saturday Night's New Teen Idol, John Travolta was cast as the lead. We were preparing the song for our new studio album which would be the follow-up to Children of the World and it was imperative that we got it right rather than just stopping now and doing some songs for a movie unless of course we knew it was going to be be a great movie, which was not guaranteed. Of course, Stigwood called the Gibb brothers in France and told them about the movie, you know, he told us about a guy who works in a paint shop across the bridge in Brooklyn, you know, and spends his salary every Saturday nights at the club. and he wins a dance contest.

I thought it was nice, Rob, those songs were actually written before the movie was mentioned to us. How deep is your love if I can't have you? Night Fever Staying Alive More Than a Woman uh, all written before we did it. I saw the movie and they played me some of the songs they had written and I certainly didn't feel it and couldn't believe they had done this. I mean, the material was so good, fantastic, I thought it was written by someone else and I didn't tell him that in December the first single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack How Deep Is Your Love went to number one.

The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was unique in taking the best of really funky black music and coupled with very tuneful white music and fusing the two in a style that was irresistible when Stigwood heard the Fiji song Night Fever, he changed the name from the movie from Saturday Night to Saturday Night Fever, now even old guys like me got down on the floor and moved because I just couldn't. 't stop it Saturday Night Fever was released in December 1977. Stigwood's little film unexpectedly became a cultural phenomenon, the film grossed $350 million at the box office and the Fever double album sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. the world, making it one of the best-selling soundtracks in history.

Staying Alive reached number one and stayed there for the entire month of February only to be replaced by Andy Gibb's song Love is Thicker Than Water which was later replaced by Night Fever if I Can Have You, written by the Bee Gees and sung by Yvonne Elliman. the fourth number one from the soundtrack an unprecedented achievement at one point in 1978 five singles written by the Bee Gees were in the top ten simultaneously but with Saturday Night Fever they became one of the biggest groups on the planet but also people who really set a social agenda in terms of style by making very urban music that had broad social appeal to have that kind of sex which is very rare and, again, we knew it was something that probably only the Beatles had experienced, we were still Barry Morris . and Robin wondering what the hell is going on The album Saturday Night Fever stayed at number one for 24 consecutive weeks It was the most successful soundtrack of all time The Bee Gees had become so dominant that by March 1978 records written and produced by The Gibb brothers occupied five of the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100.

No other composer can make that claim. Despite the enormous success and impact of Saturday Night Fever, the soundtrack did not receive an Oscar nomination, this lack of recognition for part of the film industry for his innovative The work was a disappointment. Frankie Valli and Samantha Sang also had number one hits that year with songs written by the brothers. Frankie Valli's Greece was the result of another soundtrack request from Stigwood to Barry. Well, how do you write a song called Greece? You know and him. he actually said, well, fat, you know, do it, you know, so, he was very dominant the other day.

I think the worst mistake we ever made was probably Sergeant Pepper's Lonely High School band. The first blow to BG's image was when they performed with Peter Frampton. and the Robert Stigwood film Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for 11 years. Robert Stigwood's management advice had been almost perfect, so when he approached them with the idea of ​​turning a classic Beatles album into a movie, a movie in which they would star, it was irresistible. He was determined to maintain Saturday Night Fever's momentum in Greece with another pop film and a double album, but Sergeant Pepper's was a flop, a critical and commercial failure so big that it threatened to wipe out the enormous profits RSO had made with Fever. in Greece, the worst of all afterwards.

So much success left the Bee Gees with a stigma that they had shaken off years before the second-rate Beetles and everything was so disjointed in the story that we were that we literally begged at one point to be let out of the movie because we just couldn't. we felt like we had no relevance to the movie at all it was the worst it was most of the time we had the worst movie two weeks after the movie I knew what it was Robin Morris and I went to Robert's house and he said please take us out out of this movie please take us out of this movie oh yeah we took him out we don't want him out of this movie we said this is going to kill us there's no reason to make the movie there's no reason to involve the Bee Gees in this there's no reason for the Bee Gees covering the Beatles' music seemed like a project made for Hollywood rather than for musical or artistic reasons in the wake of the Sergeant Pepper fiasco the brothers had a falling out with Stigwood who did After an independent audit of RSO records and discovered that they were owed royalties, they filed a very public $200 million lawsuit against him, alleging mismanagement and unjust enrichment.

Well, we have learned that if you disagree and have genuine discussions with the people who represent you and the people responsible for making your records public, you are in really dangerous territory, the lawsuit was later settled out of court with public apologies from Both sides, all issues were resolved, but momentum was lost. we lost our team once their work on Sergeant Pepper was completed, the BG returned to Miami to make their first album since Saturday Night Fever, it's incredibly difficult to maintain the success of that song because now you certainly have a number one, okay, that It's great for everyone. the pressure to create another one is twice as difficult and for them to achieve the career they had it is unique to work again with producing partners CarlRichardson and Alby Gallutin and their long-time band Dennis Bryant Blue Weaver and Alan Kendall the Bee Gees recorded Spirits having flown which became the most successful album of their career selling almost 15 million copies.

Spirits having flown produced another trio number one too released in November 1978. Too Much Heaven became their fourth consecutive number one single in an unprecedented act of charity donated by the Bee Gees. All royalties from the song to UNICEF and working with Robert Stigwood encouraged other artists to do the same. Everything we always loved. He is such a beautiful baby to date. The collective efforts of everyone involved have raised over $10 million. Let's welcome the meteoric rise of my younger brother Andy. His popularity continued in 1978, he released Shadow Dancing and the album was an instant hit. Andy's second album, The Shadow Dancer, contained the single of the same name, which was his third consecutive novel on the US charts.

He was the first solo artist to have three good singles. to number one on the billboard, I mean, you couldn't ask for anything better than Andy was a marketable commodity at the time, he had his own fan club, he produced all kinds of merchandise, I think because they can go and buy a naked bubble. gum or something someone had left all that poster or collector cards puzzles he had plastic guitars he even had a disco dancer Andy doll in 1978 Andy Gibb was considered one of the most attractive heartthrobs in Hollywood. Courting many of the most sought-after celebrities of the day which included Susan George and Marie Osmond, after three years of success, Andy Gibb fell victim to the same pressures and temptations of early fame that had overwhelmed his siblings.

Fame is a very dangerous thing and you believe what you read about yourself. What people say about you, you think you have something very special to say and that God is speaking through you and the public needs to know that you know it, and um, this happens to you when you first become famous, especially to international level. I think I was uh, I think I was a little crazy about him, you know, for a while, as quickly as he became an overnight sensation, Andy's initial confidence evaporated and he started fighting attacks of insecurity questioning the legitimacy of his success in Newfound.

I think he must have done it. He had it in mind what it was going to be like, but I don't think he knew how to deal with it once it happened. I think Andy felt like he had something to prove: to be a part of his family, but to find his own individuality uh within it I think it was difficult for Andy I think he always wanted to be a part of them but he didn't feel like a part of what he wanted to be. like we wanted to act you wanted to do everything Things we were doing and somehow we never got to be.

When we had some success, he was still a kid. And he just seemed to stay that way. I still think he thinks he still had to prove that he was as good as us in many ways. Once again, the same success. Know. I think they will always be that kind of brotherly brothers. type of rivalry he always wanted to try things on his own, he always wanted to prove himself without us helping him or him being part of DG, so a lot of his success maybe had to do with Barry's help and the help from his brother on some internal level.

I thought maybe it wasn't so much about him as the fact that his brothers had influenced his success as Andy approached Superstar status and sold millions of records. He did everything he could to hide his drug problems. He could do anything. All he could do was stop drinking or stop taking drugs. I talked to him outside on the balcony and I said, you know, this is a really nice house, Andy, there's a nice car out there, that Porsche. Very nice, you're not going to keep all this, you know, I said, what do you mean? I said, do what you're doing, things will disappear, all these things will go in the basket, they'll go out the window, all and He said, I know.

I know that I have I know what I have to do what Andy couldn't be helped you know that you help us you help us because that person really has to heal themselves that's not the case other people can't do it you know what you have to decide what you have to you want to be clean you want to be straight he was a great out of control artist and his personality and his emotions just couldn't deal with what was going on around him and the success he had when Do you know that Under the Influence was not him a kid but someone else too cold?

I think the success worked against him by having such an early foreign tragedy, you know, right out of the shoot it was just an absolute mammoth hit all over the planet and the album itself artistically is a magnificent album and it's a spooky album. interesting. Tragedy made it to number one, as did the follow-up. I love you from the inside out. The top of the music business has fallen from grace. They have regained their old hit 10 times over the Bee Gees. They had written and produced six consecutive number one albums, no other group had achieved such a feat and once they did it, I think even the weakest rock critic realized that they actually had some skill and were going to be around for a long time.

Long ago, in June 1979, the brothers embarked on their first concert tour since the fever outbreak. Oh, it's fantastic, the whole experience, of course. I mean, I don't like things on a Mania stage. I like consistent, respectable success because it's more manageable, but when things are when they get to a point where it was like out of control, so we get it, we send a message to you two, three, four, so that love someone, this is boring, I mean, it works in the South Pacific, oh, he's back, Shadow Knight guy. There is no way out, come on, how do you get back here?

Come on, come on, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but getting on stage and seeing the audience and because I love it, that's the only way you can really say thank you is by getting on stage live. The emotional highlight of the Spirit tour came when brother Andy joined them on the wonderful stage and he was also at his peak, he had made it too, so it was a wonderful feeling now that those four brothers Andy Gibb They had always wanted to be a BG, but because he was much younger than his brothers when he started his career in music, it was as a solo artist and he was a chip off the old block, he was a young BG and the first three songs he released made it to the number one in America who was extraordinary uh he idolized Barry particularly I would say we were as similar twins as Maurice and Robin and we were very similar we looked alive we had the same birthmarks the difference was that I was taller than Andy, but the way we felt and thought was almost identical in 1977.

Barry had taken 19-year-old Andy into the studio and produced a series of hugely popular singles. Andy's success, along with their own, took the Gibb brothers to new heights in their career. It was the best thing you can't wait for all the brothers you know to have fun and be successful and work together during the drum break. In fact, he said to me: Can you believe this madness? Can you believe it all? And I thought no, it's amazing. On that and said man, I'll never forget this as 1979 came to an end, the brothers were ready to take a break for the next decade, the Bee Gees would write some of their biggest hits and take on some of their biggest hits.

The individual challenges overseas by the summer of 1979 the fruits of their feverish labor had given the Bee Gees five Grammy Awards the spirits that had blown the album and the tour were racking up big numbers and their star was rising over Hollywood Boulevard but a Resentment was boiling among rock fans toward the dance music that had dominated the airwaves and culture. On July 13, 1979, between games of a baseball doubleheader at Comiskey Park in Chicago, a local radio station hosted a promotion for demolition of nightclubs that had to be a violent reaction and it wasn't just because it was a violent reaction towards us, we just happened to be the target, oh they were blacklisted on American radio, don't forget to tune in this weekend, we will have an end BG free week, you know, remember that?

The artist is not entirely unique, that's scary, where art meets Commerce, sometimes Commerce doesn't know when to give up and expose itself. Beyond a certain point, it's really not great, it got to that point particularly at the national level, with the BGs because in the United States it's a social laboratory and we'll take care of everything in other countries and other cultures, people pick and choose, We tend to sit there at the table like at the Viking wedding and we stay there until it's all over, that didn't stop them from making great records and in some cases, absolutely incredible records, but the biggest market in the United States, already As diverse a culture as it is, it needed a vegetable restaurant in 1979.

Barry produced Andy's third album after Dark, Let's Do It Again. You know, let's go to the studio again during recording. Andy's drug use started to get to him between the Shadow Dancing album in '78 and after dark in 1919, there seemed to be this void that was 1979. Obviously there was something going on there, I think it was. Obviously it was some abuse. While he was there, he did everything possible to hide his drug problems, kept his habit a secret from his family and friends, and routinely missed recording sessions. His voice was weakened as a result of cocaine abuse and this is where Andy's voice began to decline later during that period, consequently, a lot of what you hear on the After Dark album is Barry.

Robert Stigwood realized that Andy had a drug problem and he desperately tried to help him, so you try to protect them, you try to protect their finances so they can. If you don't have access to that much money they can just throw it away, you're trying to help them, then you become the enemy and you lose that sympathy that you shared just two years after they were the biggest selling act in the world, the Bee Gees. They decided they had to get out of the spotlight even though the music landscape was changing The Gibb brothers refused to be silenced If the radio didn't play their records then they would have to find a new voice The Gibb brothers wrote and produced entire albums for others artists, including Barbra Streisand, working with one of the greatest female vocalists of the 20th century.

Barry and his production team took songs written by the brothers and produced Guilty, which would become one of the most successful albums of Barbra Streisand's career after winning a Grammy. The association with Streisand Barry produced a series of projects that would bring enormous success to other artists, including Dion Warwick, who had a top 10 hit with the Heartbreaker brothers in 1983, the Bee Gees wrote an rb song for Diana Ross , but it was Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, who made it one of the biggest-selling singles in country music history when Islands in the Stream went to number one, it meant that, along with the eight BG Topers he made with his brothers, Barry had now produced a total of 14.

Number one records more than any other British producer except the Beatles' mentor Sir George Martin, the Bee Gees' distinctive sound is obviously the quality of their song, um, but I also want to say that Barry's high voice has something to do with merging with whatever singer he's working with, Streisand or whoever, that gives a unique sound and there's no one else who makes it that simple It was kind of a strange situation, people didn't want to admit that they liked the Bee Gees, but the records written by the Bee Gees, produced by the Bee Gees and sounding like the Bee Gees, continued to become best sellers.

Living Eyes. The brothers were busy creating hits for other artists, but their own recordings were not as successful. In 1981, the Bee Gees released their final album for RSL Records. eyes an attempt to move away from his falsetto disco style amid the backlash in the trials the album went unnoticed neither the 1981 album Living Eyes nor Staying Alive the sequel to Saturday Night Fever produced a top 10 single and were very turbulent times while all the younger His brother Andy's career was in desperate times. Father, he didn't waste it all after his initial success in the late '70s.

Andy had developed a terrible drug problem. Sales dropped and his brother was too busy producing other acts when his recording career went into decline, he was obviously looking to work in other areas and started getting stage jobs. Andy focused on creating a television identity for himself, he was hired to Co-hosted the weekly television series Solid Gold, the show featured the week's top Billboard hits and was an ideal vehicle for Andy's talents. Mr. Andy Gibb to you, baby. Andy Gibb appeared on the John Davidson show on January 6, 1981 and there are Searches on that show found ainterview we did with the magazine in the past where Andy mentioned his two Dream Girls, one of them was Victoria Principal, who was on the incredibly successful television series Dallas at the time Victoria was cast.

Studio across from The Tonight Show, so the topic of Andy's favorite ladies came up and Victoria snuck into the studio to Andy's utter amazement and just by watching the clip you can see it. I walked by here totally stunned and it has a lot of love at first sight when did you first realize that this was the reason you saw Dallas from the beginning the first time you saw it from the first time I saw it yes yes thank you no I didn't understand yes, I really don't understand I care who shot it, they're fine. I had said some very nice things about myself and I had jotted down the note telling him that I really appreciated the nice things he had said and in my usual way I hadn't nailed it and it stayed in my bag. with a stamp so I thought I'd bring it in because he had mailed it in.

It was going to sound pretty dramatic but Andy was just the nicest person I've ever met. I think his relationship with Victoria at the beginning was absolutely beautiful it was everything he dreamed of and that's the only important thing here it's not what I think or what anyone thinks and he thought the world of her Andy and Victoria quickly became the fashionable Hollywood couple and the relationship received a lot of publicity and he was not only starting a new romance but also a new career outside the world of pop music. My next guest is not only a beautiful and talented actress, but she is also a very special friend to make history with to capitalize on her popularity.

They teamed up and released a single all I have to do in August 1981. Their third album barely made the top 25 and was only on the US charts for 15 weeks. It was such a good guess that at first glance the Kid Next Door is always right. he's a handsome guy, he was the first solo artist to take his first three singles to the top of the American charts, no one else can say that Andy was the one who made Andy's future and showbiz's future shine even brighter when he attracted the interest of theater producers. putting on a Los Angeles production of the hit Broadway musical Pirates of Penzance, co-starring Pam Dauber, and was truly one of the sweetest souls, he was so modest while Andy juggled the pressures of starring on stage in a hit TV show and maintain a high level of romance profile he continued abusing drugs he wanted to quit and said he would quit but he couldn't seem to stop smoking it hurt him his drug problem people always show you up in the butt, you know, in those moments, you know how to deliver you're a joint by putting a spoon under your nose hey, I did cocaine with Andy Gibb, you know what I mean, there's always someone who wants to be there just because you're famous, not because you are, not because You earned it, he had a very weak personality and saying no to these things and you didn't really say any harm, you felt good doing it, so he didn't think it was doing him any harm when he was, you know, under the influence. , that wasn't him at all. someone else took over, but the next day he came back apologizing to everyone, although if you had done what you would regret then you had done something wrong and he would regret it Andy also faced personal problems Victoria Principal finally gave Andy an ultimatum.

I asked him to choose me or to choose drugs and maybe he wanted to be with Victoria, but in the end the drugs won and although I know with all his heart that he wanted to choose me, he chose the drugs, the couple broke up. in March 1982. Living without you living alone in this empty house seems so cold and what hurt me was that she didn't seem to feel any pain at all and I felt a little strange being the man who felt the pain and the weakness and it really was Hell for me, I really had a nervous breakdown, it put me in an incredible position. terrible dilemma because speaking on my own behalf and revealing the fact that the problem had continued and that this was the reason for the breakup would have been to add to the already tremendous burden that Andy was carrying and that is why I decided to remain silent.

Andy and Victoria's breakup became fodder for tabloids and talk shows, that their relationship was so public and so scrutinized and so talked about, and when they were dating it was fine, but when the breakup happened, it was really painful for him. have to leave. Through that in the media, Andy continued to diversify his career by making guest appearances on television shows. Andy went on The Tonight Show with Joan Rivers hoping to talk about his career, but he was forced to talk about Victoria. How did you know when you were breaking up? We started arguing a lot at the end.

I don't want to talk about all this, come on, but then you went to her and I don't talk about it anymore either. I was pretty bad for quite a while. I was very, very bad. depressed and I missed her for quite a long time, of course, yes, because you are in love with her, that's true and obviously in the end it was Mutual. Things were going downhill for Andy in March 1982, his contract with RSO was not renewed due to poor record sales. I tried and tried and, uh, absolutely pregnant, he also got fired from Pirates of Penzance and solid gold due to his recurring absences.

That's what I was going to threaten them with, I wasn't going to go on stage if they didn't get someone to run past everyone. out there nervously trying to find something, I don't know where they got it from, but someone always managed to take it home. Andy's career and personal life hit rock bottom and he spoke publicly about his setbacks in hopes of reviving her career and his reputation. I've been with Helen. I guess you literally had a nervous breakdown. It's right. I had a very, very bad nervous breakdown. I actually want to tell the story.

Now I turned to drugs for a month. I consumed a huge amount of cocaine. which I don't do anymore I gave it all up I started missing solid gold recordings I wouldn't sign up for recordings very bad boy I didn't care I didn't care about the people I didn't care about the life the girl and I thought so much about We still do it I just I totally fell apart off drugs totally off drugs and I think it's very important for my fans who have been with me since I started in the business at 18 to know exactly what has happened to me I know they certainly shouldn't do this to themselves .

I think it's very vital, yet Andy's solid gold appearances caught the attention of agent Jeff Widges, who felt that Andy still had star appeal. I got to know Andy very well, he was very charismatic, Andy very talented and his team wanted to use his singing talent and his ability to charm live audiences, so what we did was develop a solo act of his and do a tour. Andy found a new life performing on stage again. This is a new audience for you, a much older audience. Now, how does that affect what you do on stage? Well, unlike concerts, you have to be a little more intimate.

The public loves D

andy

, but that didn't keep his insecurities at bay, so it's not true that there is still a drug problem. Today there is no problem with drugs. I only had one drug problem in my life and I will never go through that again. In 1986, after a series of solo projects, the brothers realized that the industry was more interested in them as the Bee Gees. that as individuals after a five-year hiatus, they decided to get back together as a group, you win again, you win again, the Bee Gees' third career had begun, you win again, it was a huge international hit that reached number one in England, but neither the single nor the ESP album reached the top 40 in the United States, this disappointment would soon be overshadowed by an unspeakable tragedy that would render the chart positions meaningless in 1987, the Bee Gees were in the middle By their third big comeback, Guess Again, they had reached number one in England. making them the first group to top the British charts in three consecutive decades, but this achievement was not something they could appreciate in April 1985, with their career opportunities dwindling and their finances plummeting.

Andy decided to seek help and enrolled at Betty Ford. Center for the treatment of your drug addiction. I think I finally had a conversation with his mother where she said that he was in the hospital and that he had made the decision to check into Betty Ford. The doctor felt that it was very important for him to be surrounded by people he cared about and with whom he felt really safe. Andy's days at Betty Ford were promising for his family and friends. He started playing guitar again. He was writing songs and hoped to get his recording career back on track. he said you know what Marie said um I'm a member of AAA and I love it I know I'm an alcoholic and I know it's a problem and I know I can beat it he says I can do it because I'm off drugs I'm clean He says he feels so good I'm so happy you had a long battle with drugs.

You're fine now, but tell us a little about that. You know it was some people. in the business I knew for several years and I tried to keep it a secret, it was with cocaine and it got to the point where my family, of course, for many years has been very, very worried, very worried because it got to the point of danger Andy left Betty Ford, with the intention of staying drug-free, her family and friends decided to give him space and time to adapt to a life without drugs. Her family even moved him from the old house he was in to a new place so that he would not return to a new place. environment that had old memories, unfortunately, you know he went out and everyone said, let's give him a little time to adjust, go to his meetings and within a couple of days he was out again.

We know he lost his sobriety as Andy's life continued to spiral downward, the Gibb family would again try to rescue their wayward son in the late 1980s. Andy Gibbs' world was in complete turmoil in 1985, earning little more than twenty-four thousand dollars and in 1986 his income fell. up to just under 8,000. I think it was a hard blow for Andy. I think it was a devastating blow for him. I don't think he survived. I think he was there. He was embarrassed by it in 1987. The Gibb family rallied to help Andy resurrect his ailing career during this time he renewed his close relationship with his brother Barry by playing tennis with him on a regular basis while the family were happy to see Andy returning. back to normal Barry felt like something was still wrong We were playing tennis and we were playing five or six sets and he was blushing so much and I didn't know why you know that and what he wasn't telling me was that I really shouldn't be doing this.

Andy was experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains, in addition to health problems, Andy decided to give writing music another chance. He recorded four original songs with his brothers at his studio in Miami, Florida, the fact that we did it together in the first place was um, what? you brought it back is that you know, let's do it again, you know, we're going to the studio again and this time you know, I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll know, I'll keep my control and I'll be and I'll do it. Wait, I won't slip again, you know, during those sessions Andy started to regain the spark of his previous successful albums, it seemed like he was finally getting his form back.

We used the middle ear of BG Studio in Miami to record demos for four songs. bring me to my knees again I'm too young to die I'm too young to die thanks to these Island Records signed him and he came to Britain in January 1988. He stayed in the small Chancery next to Robin's main house. residence in Oxfordshire Andy decided to give writing music another chance something went wrong and he suddenly became extremely lonely um he couldn't write he got blocked and couldn't write and that bothered him a lot, I had to keep reassuring him that you know his talent and that you know and You boosted his confidence, it actually affected his mind, that he really had to start over.

I don't think he could feel like he started and he wouldn't leave his go to college for days miss appointments um but you didn't take phone calls something was going on and I couldn't figure out what was going on today and I contacted Robin and Robin He said don't come. Your baby's in it too much, okay, but I was on that plane the next day because I knew something was wrong, okay, going in and out and saying he might as well be dead, it's okay, this was because there's no one. there, did you see? There's really no need for him to be awake, miss family, and we really didn't want him away from us and I think he went into decline because of that, he seemed to be drinking.

We are looking for evidence that we heard he was drinking again. drinking I was definitely buying those little bottles I was calling the little liquor store at two in the morning to order a bottle of vodka these people were living dead and we thought this was c

andy

I called him but Robin said he was drunk and I said it was sodium in that moment and I put the phone there and I never talked to him so I never forgave myself for that for a long time I thought I should have talked to him you know the last thing that happenedbetween Andy and me.

It was an argument that is devastating to me because I had to live with it my whole life and there was a phone call between him and I and I was like, you know you really have to get your act together and this is not Well, and instead of be nice about it, I was angry and because someone had told me at some point, you know, tough love is the answer, so for me it wasn't, you know, because that was the last conversation we had, so um. so that's my regret, that's what I live with, it was the point where he couldn't even get up, he couldn't keep falling and he smashed his face into the wall, he lost all his teeth, oh it was just a disaster.

I mean, I could go on and on and my mother had to be there to say that she was a nightmare to her. He wasn't even aware of her existence anymore. Robin took care of him, but he was clean. He hadn't been doing drugs for quite some time, but unfortunately he hadn't been able to kick the booths and that had weakened his heart. On March 7, just two days after his 30th birthday, he was admitted to John Radcliffe Hospital in England with brutal chest pain. pains I said I'll stay with him you know I thought it was to bring the newspaper I'll stay here all night but she didn't let me she said well you know better you go because right now you'll sleep at home we' I haven't given him anything to sleep on and he was fast asleep, so I had to leave and I told him I will be back in the morning.

The next morning, the doctor came in and said, Do you mind if we take a little more blood? MD and said no, again the doctor turned around and left, it gave a big sign that he was gone. Singer Andy Gibb along with his three older brothers became a prominent part of the music world in the 1970s died today in a hospital in England on March 10, 1988. Just a few days after turning 30, Andy BG's little brother Gibb died, maybe I don't want to know the reason why you politely don't talk to me and all that and I can't see myself in your eyes.

I once had a dream that he would die and it scared me to death and I remember the morning I got the news. That will always burn in my brain and in my heart. He was a great kid. I think it was difficult for all of them and their wives. we all took it very hard each of us we all took it to me it was shocking that such a young boy had to leave so early yes, once you lose someone of your own blood I think it changes you radically, I think I think the lesson spiritual and soul growth I think is the term, whatever they say, whatever the term is, I think you grow deeply inside and you never really forget the loneliest feeling I felt was that we were walking away and I looked. the wall and I just saw it there was no one else there just like my coffee there against the wall and I felt like it had been abandoned and we all wanted to go back and stay with it well we should treasure everyone more it's um it's kind of reminder of your mortality, wasn't it like that when he died?

It was something to do with drugs, but the damage had been done through drugs, you say, first of all, the media started broadcasting false reports that Andy had died. from a drug overdose, in fact, he died of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. I think a lot of the family was angry that Andy's death was being misrepresented as drug abuse and it wasn't. Andy was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California. It was all these people who loved him so much. I just remember the look on Olivia Newton-John's face that she just adored him.

It's just one of those moments where you think this isn't right, this isn't the way it's supposed to be. be because he had so much more life to live, that I'm supposed to think it was just something to get carried away with drugs? So many artists have been through that drug scene and I know how much his weak heart was the key that he couldn't afford the stress of the lifestyle he had adopted, the sad thing is that he died of heart disease because Andy really had the heart bigger, although it's been quite some time since Andy passed away, he's still in many, many. people's hearts, as you can see if you do internet searches and stuff like that, he touched so many people when he was here, his sensitivity came through and his passion came through when he performed and I think that was part of his trauma and part of the talent. special that he had.

Why did he have to leave so soon? If there is one thing to learn, it is that nothing lasts all week. We thought maybe we'd go back to work and, you know, refocus or something and I'd have to pull the strings and it was very beautiful. Byron Robert started crying like it was a crime and about a month later we came back and Don't Be Dead I Wish You Were Here Randy and that was hard to think about, very hard, but we wanted to sing it, we wanted to do it. I don't think he liked the world that was happening there, so he kind of built it. his, which in the end when he had to deal with the real world was a little difficult for him.

I told him it will be easier, but he does it. I'm sorry we didn't spend more time, we were always too busy and of course. Of course, it always happens that after someone leaves you always feel remorse because you could have given them more time and you could have said it, there were things you could have said that you didn't say, the other way around. Well, I hope people remember how he particularly remembers his kindness because he helped so many people, you just couldn't help it. I had to live for many years with the awareness that it wasn't if Andy would die, it was when Andy would die.

I felt like he died of a broken heart, which is so sad, but I felt like he was just gone, I couldn't do it anymore. Andy had everything he had. Fame, popularity, money and anything you could want, but he was still empty. The angry one could have been a mega star. You know, he just he just he was there, it's terribly difficult to cope with. It came to that because he was the current celebrity several years after Andy's death. I had a dream and in that dream Andy came to me knowing that this was haunting me and we sat down and had the conversation that I certainly wanted to have then and that we probably needed to have and I thought it was very like Andy, even after his death, to find a way to bring these songs.

This was not an angry and troublesome person. This was someone who was very well centered, he loved his family and I think it's that side that we don't remember about artists. He was generally a very, very beautiful person and I think that's what we need to remember. The brothers poured their broken hearts into a new album, the title track. was a worldwide success the Bee Gees embarked on their first US tour in a decade followed by the album High Civilization and then a European tour what the public didn't know was that Barry The Rock Solid's older brother was battling a serious back problem, literally Agony during Europe and after that I couldn't, I couldn't walk and when you sing falsetto it's an incredibly high range to go to, you need your back and it's agony when you do it because oh you know you feel it before.

You even took half a breath, so Barry was going through all that stuff. I don't know how he did it, but I didn't want to make a bad show if you get to the point where you ask for back surgery, um. We're in trouble and there was no recourse because you know I was basically a at that time if I didn't have back surgery. They are ready? You were ready. In the early '90s, Barry wasn't the only brother living with constant pain. Morris was struggling. with his own addiction to alcohol it affected families, mom, dad, everyone, like Andy, did you know it was the same type of thing, but my drug of choice was alcohol and until I was 25 I was fine?

After 25 something happened, I was getting sicker and sicker, it really hit me hard in the 80's. Randy's death hit me hard as all of us and I relapsed shortly after but for a couple of days and then I returned to the program again. Morris's social drinking had become total. ruined alcoholism he found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his responsibilities as a brother, father and husband for me, it is a continuous battle, it is not that it is not really won, it is something that if I am an alcoholic, I am an alcoholic for the rest of my life since that I was in my recovery program has changed my life my health my wife my children my career in 1993 the Bee Gees made their 20 second studio album size is not everything even though they had racked up every imaginable sales and achievements in charts and produced notable work, respect from the music industry, particularly in America, had eluded them, that was about to change.

In 1993, the Bee Gees released one of their strongest albums after the craze. 40 hits that pay the price of love and the epic vote For Whom the Bell Tolls surprise in 1994 the Bee Gees were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame two years later, as they prepared to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first hit internationally, the unexpected happened. The music industry and media began to reevaluate BG's place in rock history. It is a colossal honor for me to present this award to a group that has been working for 30 years to put that into perspective. Our newcomers here tonight will have to follow.

Go to the year 2027 to match the achievements of the brothers abroad with the British word stamped on it is uh, we always wanted to be recognized by our country in which we were born and have the attention that BG has is wonderful. What I got in the late '90s was a long-awaited Robert Stigwood as the world's greatest showman. If you do not accept this award with us tonight, then we will not accept it either. I'm so proud of my closing that I thought it was overdue recognition for them, they've been back so many times that they haven't been absent, but if you could say they had a critical comeback it was that night, I think that set it in motion and the industry finally realized they were the world champions they thought they were the best please stand up and welcome Barry Robin Morris boy the Bee Gees overseas I don't think I've ever seen the Bee Gees as excited or as proud as when they found out that they were going to be elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but not only being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but being inducted by Brian Wilson for me was a knockout that ruined my night.

We would be, we should be speechless, but we are not with all the Grammys. and at all the American Music Awards and all the Brit Awards, the idea of ​​being in a small group of great artists was overwhelming for them tonight. I think we have returned home and we thank them very much for this honor, almost without them knowing it, these characters become. Icons of legends and this is absolutely appropriate, the Bee Gees are in that state now and if they are not careful they will continue to be even more famous than they really are. The Bee Gees were grateful for the recognition but weren't looking back at the brothers.

They were determined to create new music that would prove they were still a vital force. The Trees and I Don't Want to Be Alone was a hit, but Barry's physical problems made it impossible for the Bee Gees to mount a major tour, so they invented a new form. to bring their music to millions of fans around the world, the idea was to try to create an event that would allow the Bee Gees to perform in a way that everyone who wanted to see them could do so and we came up with a concept called one night only and For one night, anyone in the country could come see the Bee Gees or watch it on television.

About us right now we feel more comfortable doing special events, almost like The Three Tenors, you know? But anyway there are three of us and we can sing beautifully. hard over the next two years, the BG took a single night around the world performing a concert on every continent to standing room only crowds talking to my eyes. It became a Pay-Per-View event, a television special and a CD that sold over 5 million copies. As the 20th century came to a close, it seemed like the Bee Gees had once again conquered the world, but there was still a unique challenge ahead.

In 2000, the Bee Gees got to work on a new album determined to once again reinvent the sound they gave. a contemporary twist to his musical Roots. I have seen the story. I read it. Otherwise, this is where I came in. I guess that's our way of saying things never change. It is very honest and reflects our feelings about everything that has happened. For us, in the last 30 years, we wanted that field of life, particularly in the opening song, and we just wanted to rock out a little bit more, but this is where I came in, it's the harmony that we just wanted as the three of us around.

A thing with a microphone. In the harmony of this song there are a lot of elements of what we are doing on the new album that we used to do a long time ago, there are an old type of ingredients that we used to do that have arrived. full circle are real instruments real voices real musicians and their great lyrics and melodies that I think will grab people emotionally in a way that music used to,but I will go anywhere because I will go anywhere with you, this is the success of The Bee Gees is unparalleled, a career spanning five decades with more than 100 million records sold worldwide and with almost 1,000 compositions to their credit, The brothers form one of the most successful songwriting teams in history.

Hundreds of artists have recorded their songs and everyone has a favorite, my favorite BG songs of all time, oh my god, I mean which one do you choose from all that luck? You know, it is an absolutely impossible question and that the VGS will be considered as a very important part of the 20th century, unique with respect to their musical contribution in writing, performing and producing, they were and still are an incredible group, they deserve to be there as composers with Dylan Leonard McCartney Pete Townsend Ray Davies Sultan BG is as good as that for me, we're still the three kisses of Manchester I wanted to be famous and I just wanted to make music.

I think the secret to how we feel is that we have never lost the enthusiasm we had when we were little kids. It's still there, it's a feeling of wonder and sometimes you go back a little. gradual and a little tiring, but then you know you wake up one morning and then we're back in the studio, we might never see the Bee Gees again, we'll never see a band Prevail in every sense popular across five decades, I hope and I pray that lash music you know because for me that is immortality that is immortality the Bee Gees really are the first family of pop music