Singer and songwriter Robin Gibb died today at the age of 62 after a long struggle with cancer, The New York Times and other sources are reporting. Gibb, with his brothers Maurice (Robin’s twin, who died in 2003) and Barry, found fame as part of the Bee Gees, a decades-spanning act that first found success in the mid-60s, writing and singing Beatles-inspired pop songs. (A fourth Gibb brother, Andy, who had success as a solo artist, died in 1988 at the age of 30.) Though born on the Isle Of Man, the Bee Gees’ career began in Australia, where the family relocated in 1958. The group found international stardom after returning to England, where they began a long association with the music impresario Robert Stigwood.
Under Stigwood’s guidance, they began a long hitmaking run that included such singles as “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” “To Love Somebody,” “Holiday,” and “I Started A Joke,” songs that found success in spite of melancholy undertones that didn’t always fit into the spirit of the times and marked by Robin’s distinctive tremolo.
The ambitious 1969 double album Odessa ended this first period, and the first lineup of the Bee Gees. The brothers parted ways with their established backing band after its recording and, even more significantly, Robin left the band over artistic differences, leaving Barry and Maurice to continue on without him. He was back two years later, and though the early ’70s provided the group with one of their biggest hits in “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” the group struggled professionally.