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Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb dies aged 62

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LONDON (Reuters) - Robin Gibb, who with his brothers Barry and Maurice formed the disco-era hit machine the Bee Gees, has died aged 62, his official website said on Sunday.

The singer had been battling colon and liver cancer.

"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," a statement posted on his official website said.

Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees performs during the Wango Tango concert in Los Angeles in this June 17, 2001 file photo. Gibb, who with his brothers Barry and Maurice formed the disco-era hit machine the Bee Gees, has died aged 62, his official website said. He had been suffering from colon and liver cancer and later contracted pneumonia. - REUTERS


The Bee Gees achieved superstardom in the 1960s and 1970s with a string of catchy love ballads and disco hits including "Stayin' Alive", "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Night Fever".

The band achieved album sales of up to 200 million copies, putting them in the same league as the likes of the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.


The Bee Gees, were among the most successful vocal groups in rock and roll history, having sold more than 200 million albums. In 1977, they became the first and only songwriters to place five songs in the Top Ten at the same time.

Here are a few facts about the Bee Gees:



* The trio reached the Top 10 with I've Gotta Get a Message to You and I Started a Joke (both 1968) but split briefly after the relative failure of their concept album Odessa (1969).

* They reunited in 1970 and had hits with Lonely Days (1970) and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (1971), but there were several hitless years before they returned to the charts with Main Course in 1975 - in which they produced a new sound - the emphasis being on dance rhythms, high harmonies, and a funk beat.


* Jive Talkin', the first single off the album, became their second American number one single, and was followed up with Nights on Broadway and then the album Children of the World, which yielded the hits You Should Be Dancing and Love So Right. Recorded in Miami, it put the Bee Gees at the forefront of the disco movement, which their work on the sound track album of the film Saturday Night Fever (1977) would popularise and define.

* The trio's contributions to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album pushed sales past the 40 million mark. It also reigned as the top-selling album in history until Michael Jackson's Thriller - an album that Jackson acknowledged was inspired by Saturday Night Fever - surpassed it in the 1980s.

* Saturday Night Fever and 1979's Spirits Having Flown combined to yield six number one hits, making the Bee Gees the only group in pop history to write, produce and record that many consecutive chart-topping singles.

* In 1997 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and this led to a resurgence of interest, which heralded the release of the live album One Night Only (1998), cut at their first American concert in almost a decade.

* Their success was not limited to recordings issued under their own name. Individually and together they've written and produced major hits for artistes including Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, as well as Frankie Valli.

* The Bee Gees remained active until the death of Maurice in January 2003, from cardiac arrest during surgery. Following his death, Robin and Barry decided to cease performing as the Bee Gees



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