Andy Gibb: Remembering the life and career of the Bee Gees' younger brother

20 September 2020, 22:25 | Updated: 21 September 2020, 13:07

Andy Gibb
Picture: Getty

By Tom Eames

Andy Gibb was one of the world's biggest singers for a short period in the 1970s.

While his older brothers the Bee Gees found international fame before him, he managed to carve himself a solo career of his own.

However, he struggled with personal issues throughout his life, and passed away at a young age, making us wonder what could have been for the youngest Gibb brother.

Here are all the big facts about Andy Gibb:

  1. Who was Andy Gibb?

    Andy Gibb - Shadow Dancing
    Picture: RSO

    Andy Gibb was an English singer and teen idol, and the youngest brother of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, aka the Bee Gees.

    He came to international fame in the late 1970s, with six singles that reached the Top 10 in the US.

    Read more: Watch the Bee Gees first TV appearance as kids in 1960

    Andy was born on March 5, 1958 in Manchester, and was the youngest of five children of Barbara and Hugh Gibb. His family emigrated to Australia when he was aged six months old.

    However, he returned to the UK in 1967 aged nine, while his older brothers started to find international fame.

  2. How did Andy Gibb die?

    Andy Gibb's success as a singer proved to be relatively brief due to struggles with drug addiction and depression.

    By early February 1988, he had appeared to have beaten his drug addiction, and was ready to begin recording new material for a new album. However, he was still battling clinical depression.

    According to Robin Gibb, his brother "just went downhill so fast ... he was in a terrible state of depression."

    Soon after his 30th birthday, he entered John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford complaining of chest pains. On March 10 1988, Gibb's doctor told him that more tests were needed to find out the cause of his pains. Later that day, he died as a result of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by a recent viral infection.

    Andy Gibb is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. The headstone reads 'Andy Gibb / March 5, 1958 – March 10, 1988 / An Everlasting Love'.

  3. What are Andy Gibb's biggest songs?

    At the same time that his brothers were scoring huge success in the mid-to-late 1970s, Andy followed suit after singing to Robert Stigwood's (the Bee Gees' manager) label RSO Records.

    He scored three number one singles in a row in the US: 'I Just Want to be Your Everything', '(Love is) Thicker than Water' and 'Shadow Dancing'.

    He also had top 10 hits with 'An Everlasting Love', '(Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away' and 'Desire'.

    However, he didn't have as much success in the UK: achieving one top 10 hit with 'An Everlasting Love'.

  4. Who is Andy Gibb's daughter?

    Peta Weber
    Peta Weber. Picture: The Gibb Collective

    Andy Gibb had one daughter with his wife Kim Reeder, Peta, who was born on January 25, 1978.

    Peta later said: "I didn’t have the chance to get to know my father as well as I should have. As I grew I learned that he was famous, and that he had famous siblings, but for me he was just a guy on the end of the telephone line."

    Read more: Barry Gibb remembers his brothers - 'I'm the last one standing'

    "I knew I had a dad, I knew that he was a singer and that he lived in America, and that’s it really. It wasn’t until much later that I knew he was famous.

    "I remember mum calling me into a room once, pointing at Solid Gold on the TV and saying, ‘That’s your dad.’ I always wished we had a more of a chance to get to know each other. I wanted to be close to him, like any daughter wants with her father. But outside forces conspired against us."

  5. Who was Andy Gibb's wife?

    Andy Gibb married his girlfriend, Kim Reeder on July 11, 1976.

    However, they divorced on January 15, 1978.

    When it was announced that Andy had died, Reeder was not surprised. "I always knew that one day I'd get a call with news like this. It was only a matter of time."

  6. Why wasn't Andy Gibb in the Bee Gees?

    Bee Gees
    Picture: Getty

    Sadly, Andy was just too young to join the Bee Gees, as they were already performing and writing songs when he was just an infant.

    However, in early 1988, Barry, Robin, and Maurice announced that Andy would be joining the Bee Gees which would have made them a four-member group. Tragically, he passed away soon after.