Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees dies after long battle with cancer

[queenlillian1962]

By David Browne, Rolling Stone

Robin Gibb, one-third of the Bee Gees, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer, his spokesperson has confirmed via a statement. Gibb was 62 years old.

"The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery," reads the statement. "The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time."



Two years ago, Gibb battled colon and liver cancer, but despite making what he called a "spectacular recovery," a secondary tumor recently developed, complicated by a case of pneumonia.

Gibb was born in Manchester, England, in 1949, along with twin brother Maurice. (Maurice died in 2003 of complications from a twisted intestine; eerily, Robin had surgery for the same medical issue in 2010.) Along with their older brother Barry, the brothers began harmonizing as a trio in Australia, where the family moved in 1958. Although the Bee Gees had some success in Australia -– they hosted a weekly variety show there –- they didn't truly arrive until they returned to England and signed with manager Robert Stigwood. Robin's quivering, vulnerable voice was featured prominently on several of the group's earliest and most Beatles-eque hits, including "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "I Started a Joke," "Massachusetts," and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You."


Although he looked and sounded like the meekest Bee Gee, Robin grew into the family rebel. By 1969, he and Barry were feuding over whose songs should be singles, and Robin, then 20, was declared a "ward of the state" by their father when his drinking and partying seemed to take over his life. "It happened so fast that we lost communication between us," Gibb later recalled. "It was just madness, really."

But it also Robin who, in 1971, made the first call to Barry to reunite with his brothers. Robin's solo career had stalled, and Barry and Maurice's attempts to continue as the Bee Gees as a duo had floundered as well. "If we hadn't been related, we would probably have never gotten back together," Robin said at the time. Robin's voice was heard, beautifully, on the chorus of their minor 1972 hit "Run to Me."



The Bee Gees' massive second wind arrived with their proto disco hit, "Jive Talkin'," in 1975; two years later, their contributions to Saturday Night Fever made them bigger stars than ever. Most of the hits from that era featured Barry's falsetto voice, but the brothers' vocal blend remained an indelible apart of their sound.



The group entered another fallow period during the early Eighties, although during this time, Robin produced a semi-hit album by Jimmy Ruffin, brother of the Temptations' David Ruffin. The last Bee Gees album, "This Is Where I Came In," was released in 2001. Two years later, Maurice died, and with his passing the Bee Gees ended. (Their other, younger brother Andy died in 1988.)

Robin and Barry reunited periodically –- in 2010, they made an appearance on "American Idol" and inducted ABBA into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –- and talked about a duo tour, but nothing materialized. Robin, though, kept his hand in music. With his son Robin-John, he wrote an ambitious piece, "The Titanic Requiem," a mix of orchestral and vocal pieces telling the story of the doomed liner on the 100th anniversary of its sinking. "It's a serious subject and it's not a rock opera," Gibb said before its debut. "There are no backbeats. This could have been written 300 years ago."

Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the work had its world premiere in London on April 10th. But in a sign that Gibb's health had taken a turn for the worse, he wasn't able to attend.

[queenlillian1962]

RIP Robin Gibb

Donna Summer and Robin Gibb both die in a weeks time...

Attention! Attention! Disco is finally dead.

[Truth Teller]

Attention! Attention! Disco is finally dead.

Sorry to break your heart lillian,but no music form ever dies.

Musicians die,but music doen't.

Plus,Summer and (esepcially) The Bee Gees were more than any one style.

IMO The Bee Gees best song/record was this song they wrote for Otis Redding,but Otis died before they could send the song to him:





And disco is part of R+B and (like it or not Snouter) rock and roll originates from R+B/African Americans.

[Truth Teller]

Disco is finally dead.

Not in heaven.

[Misteria]

Gawd they are dying in their early 60s for petes sake! RIP Robin

[queenlillian1962]

Not in heaven.

GRRRRRRRRR

Well actually the people may have gone to heaven but I'm sure the music is being played in hell.

[Mrmint]

R.I.P anyone who dies deserves some sort of respect no matter how bad the crimes or how bad the character

[Truth Teller]

My view of The Bee Gees is probably diiferent than most peoples'.

Most people saw them as performers,I saw/see them as songwriters who happened to also perform.


Look at the performers who recorded their songs:Elvis Presely,Roy Orbison,Hank Willams Jr.,Janis Joplin,Barbra Streisand,Kenny Rodgers ,Dolly Parton ,Lionel Hampton.

That's a diverse bunch of artists.

[jwreck]

Jesus fuckin christ you would think the stooges would have more of a sense of humor. Lighten the fuck up Larry.

[Truth Teller]

Jesus fuckin christ you would think the stooges would have more of a sense of humor. Lighten the fuck up Larry.

You thnk dying of cancer is funny?

You are one sick puppy.

[jwreck]

You thnk dying of cancer is funny?

You are one sick puppy.

Life is funny. Death is part of life.

[Chachma v'Oz]

I was reading up on the Bee Gees and they mentioned that the youngest brother, Andy, died in 1988 of a viral infection of the heart. I remember that, as I had that same infection. The difference may have been that I followed doctor's orders.

I had contracted the Philippine flu that year and after a week off work sick I let myself be guilted into going back to work, even though I still felt sick. Slowly I got to feeling better, then I started getting an odd pain in my chest. Every time my heart beat, it hurt a little.

I went to the doctor and he deduced that I'd never gotten over the flu at all and that the virus had moved to the covering of my heart, inflaming it. He pumped me full of meds and told me to go home and go to bed and not get up for anything except to go to the bathroom. He said I wasn't the first patient of his who had this complication of that season's flu and that he'd put the other two in the hospital because it was so serious, but he knew I'd do what he said so I could go home instead. (If the infection moved onto the heart muscle itself, it was fatal.)

I was on my back for six weeks until he released me to return for work. Another patient of his with this, the wife a fellow I worked with, didn't feel all that sick and continued with her social activities and, like Andy Gibb, that cost her her life.

Sometimes it's best to listen to those who know.

[GanjaFreebird]

Life is funny. Death is part of life.

Jesus fuckin christ you would think the stooges would have more of a sense of humor. Lighten the fuck up Larry.

Dumbass.

[jwreck]

Goes for you too Curly.

[Jim Colyer]

Sad to see Robin Gibb go down. The Bee Gees made some great records.