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Tag: Barry Gibb

  • Barry Gibb Remembers ‘Dear Friend’ and Manager Robert Stigwood

    Longtime Bee Gees manager and producer Robert Stigwood died on January 4th at the age of 81, and Bee Gees member Barry Gibb has paid tribute to his “dear friend”.

    “Robert Stigwood was an enigma. A victorian figure cast into the sixties to work with Brian Epstein and The Beatles. He hitch hiked from Adelaide to London with a powerful vision to rule the entertainment world. He was almost aristocratic in nature, the mixture of talent and insight from the moment you met him was omnipresent,” Gibb said in a statement.

    “He signed us as his group at a moment in time when groups were no longer being signed. The odds against us having success was very high but Robert took an act of faith and against the advice of others, became our manager. He also became a member of our family and all the success we had was because of Robert Stigwood. On behalf of Linda and our family we wish you god speed. Every time the first of May comes around I will think of you and I will miss your phone call. We shared so many wonderful moments. I will never forget you my dear friend.”

    Stigwood also produced the classic film Saturday Night Fever and served as a manager for many other legendary acts, including Eric Clapton and The Who.

    Robin Gibb’s son announced Stigwood’s death on Monday.

    “I would like to share the sad news with you all, that my godfather, and the longtime manager of my family, Robert Stigwood, has passed away. A creative genius with a very quick and dry wit, Robert was the driving force behind The Bee Gees career, as well as having discovered Cream, and subsequently managing Eric Clapton. He was also of course, the creator of the movies Saturday Night Fever and Grease, and many Broadway musicals with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. RSO Records pretty much defined the late 70’s. Of course, his biography is very extensive and can easily be found online…..I would like to thank Robert for his kindness to me over the years as well as his mentorship to my family. “Stiggy”, you will be missed,” Spencer Gibb wrote on his Facebook page.

    I would like to share the sad news with you all, that my godfather, and the longtime manager of my family, Robert…

    Posted by Spencer Gibb (Official Artist Page) on Monday, January 4, 2016

  • Bee Gees Manager Robert Stigwood, Who Produced ‘Grease’ and ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ Dies at 81

    Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood has died at the age of 81. , who also produced the 1970s blockbusters Grease and “Saturday Night Fever,” has died. He was 81.

    Stigwood’s office said the producer of the 1970s Grease and Saturday Night Fever died Monday, as reported by the BBC. The cause of death was not disclosed.

    The Bee Gees manager was born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1934, and moved to Britain in the 1950s, where he quickly became an important figure in the growing rock music industry.

    He managed Cream and its guitarist Eric Clapton in the 1960s before becoming the manager of brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, collectively known as the Bee Gees.

    Later, Stigwood moved from music into theater and ultimately film. He is known for bringing the Broadway hit, Hair, to the London stage. He brought to film other classic theater productions including Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who’s rock opera Tommy.

    He went on to produce Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack, which featured the Bee Gees, made superstars out of the brothers Gibb. That was followed by the 1979 release of Grease, released in 1978, which, combined with Saturday Night Fever, made John Travolta into one of the decade’s biggest stars.

    Stigwood also produced Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, a 1978 Beatles-based movie musical which did not fare as well as his other musical endeavors.

    While sequels to Saturday Night Fever and Grease were flops, Stigwood’s movie musical Evita starring Madonna as Argentine first lady Eva Peron was a hit.

    Travolta paid tribute to Stigwood, saying he “changed the world and only for the better and he was certainly important to my career. His legacy lives on and he will forever be remembered.”

    Spencer Gibb, who is the son of the late Robin Gibb and Stigwood’s godson, described him as “a creative genius with a very quick and dry wit.”

    “I would like to thank Robert for his kindness to me over the years as well as his mentorship to my family,” Gibb wrote on Facebook. “‘Stiggy,’ you will be missed.”

    Lloyd Webber also remembered Stigwood on Twitter, calling him a “great showman who taught me so much.”

  • Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees Remembers His Late Brothers Ahead of Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

    Barry Gibb received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Saturday on behalf of the Bee Gees, which will air on the Grammy ceremony Sunday, but said it would be a bittersweet moment without his late brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb there to share in the award.

    “Of course there will [be a void],” Barry Gibb told Entertainment Tonight. “But I always believe they’re close.”

    Robin Gibb died in May 2012 after battling colon and liver cancer, and Robin’s twin Maurice died to complications following a twisted bowel in 2003. Another brother who had a successful singing career in his own right and was not part of the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, died of the heart condition myocarditis in 1988.

    When thinking about the disco era of the 1970s, the Bee Gees absolutely come to mind along with 1977’s Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta, who sent a special message for Barry prior to Sunday’s award ceremony.

    “Barry, you know I love you,” John Travolta said. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me and everything I’ve done for you.”

    The four brothers had a slew of number one hits in the 1970s and early 80s, but Barry Gibb told ET he prefers How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and Lonely Days over perhaps their most famous hit, Stayin’ Alive, because of the high notes in the disco anthem.

    Barry Gibb acknowledged the impact the movie and the soundtrack, which featured several Bee Gees tracks, had on the culture of the world in the disco era.

    “Saturday Night Fever is something now that everybody knows about all over the world,” Gibb said.

    Barry Gibb continues to record and perform and has plans for a new album and tour with his 37-year-old son Ashley.

  • Robin Gibb’s Final, Posthumous Album a Testament to Life With His Bee Gees Siblings

    Robin Gibb’s Final, Posthumous Album a Testament to Life With His Bee Gees Siblings

    Robin Gibb’s final, posthumous album, 50 St. Catherine’s Drive, is a testament to the love he shared with his brothers, Barry and Maurice, and the music the famous British trio made during a long, illustrious career as the Bee Gees.

    Robin’s 17-track album features songs he either wrote or co-wrote and is named after the Gibb family house in which the singer was born in 1949 on Isle of Man.

    The very personal and sentimental album was written between 2006 and 2008, and includes songs that were written following the death of Robin’s twin, Maurice, who died in 2003 from complications resulting from a twisted intestine. The material reflects the writer’s conviction that there is loyalty and love that can never diminish.

    The track Sydney is a nostalgic song about Gibb and his famous siblings that was the only song written outside the 2006-2008 timeframe and was written as he battled cancer. He had hoped to finish the song with his brother, Barry, but died nine months later from colorectal cancer before they were able to complete the song.

    With the loss of his brother and with his own death looming, Robin seems to have captured the sentiment that life here on earth is fleeting. On the song, Days of Wine & Roses, the bittersweet lyrics begin, “Time and tide will wait for no one. Now you’re gone.”

    In April 2013, almost a year following the death of Robin, the Isle of Man’s Douglas Council commemorated 50 Catherine Drive with a blue plaque on the door as the original home of the Gibb brothers.

  • Barry Gibb, Only Living Bee Gees Member, Embarks on Solo Tour

    Barry Gibb is the only remaining member of the Bee Gees and he is now embarking on his first ever solo tour. He kicked off his tour this week in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center to an impressive crowd. His second stop on the tour was Boston.

    The Bee Gees consisted of Barry Gibb along with brothers Maurice and Robin. Maurice died back in 2003 and Robin passed away in 2012. Younger brother, solo artist Andy Gibb, died in 1988 at age 30. Barry Gibb is no stranger to the music world, but in a career that spanned several decades he never did much on his own. He released only one solo album–Now Voyager–and he wrote two albums for Barbra Streisand–Guilty and Guilty Pleasures.

    “It was time,” Gibb said from his home in Miami about finally going out on a solo tour.

    When asked about his apparent avoidance of much solo work throughout his career, he gave a very simple answer.

    “My heart wasn’t in making solo records with all that,” he said. “We were brothers, but if you stepped too far out, somebody would pull you back in. You couldn’t go too far on your own. There was always that conflict.”

    “Why do you think I titled that Streisand album after something guilty? Having success on my own meant having to not really talk about it. It’s not as if my brothers ever mentioned me winning a Grammy for that record with Barbra, let alone congratulate me,” he added. “There it is.”

    Gibb’s reasons for not doing solo work are sadly gone.

    “I don’t have anyone to look out for except myself,” he acknowledged.

    He did, however, express his feelings about Justin Bieber and his recent issues that have prominently graced the media in recent months, as seen in the video clip above.

    Barry Gibb was close to his brothers, both personally and professionally. Whether he was writing Bee Gees hits alone or as a group, from 1967’s New York Mining Disaster 1941, 1977’s watershed Saturday Night Fever, or 1977’s I’ve Gotta Get A Message to You, they were, as he says, a band of brothers.

    “I know I make it sound as if I wanted to get away from them, but I didn’t,” he shared. “We inspired each other in many ways.”

    As the eldest he was always looking out for his younger brothers. Barry Gibb says he is a religious man, and he also believes his brothers will square their problems in heaven.

    “Too many coincidences to think otherwise,” he said.

    He even dreams about his brothers who have passed on before him.

    “In so many of my dreams now, I see my brothers. I see Robin a lot, presently. I see his expressions. Maurice and Andy, too, but less than Robin. He and I, we were as close as we could be within those circumstances. Maybe we were worried that we would become so close, it would have to come apart,” he said.

    Barry Gibb isn’t only a compassionate man when talking about his late brothers, but is compassionate in his writing and performing of music as well. One need only listen to an old Bee Gees song like How Can You Mend A Broken Heart that dates all the way back to 1971 to see and hear this quite clearly. His audiences will no doubt hear it, too, along with a taste of whatever else the iconic singer puts out there for them during his first ever solo tour.

    Image via Twitter

  • Barry Gibb Offers Advice to Troubled Justin Bieber

    Believe it or not, Barry Gibb and Justin Bieber have quite a lot in common.

    No, it’s not the cool hair or the high-pitched voice – although they do both share those features – but the whole stardom thing. And the former Bee Gees front man has a few words of wisdom for the young Bieber.

    As you may know, Mr. Bieber has had a few run-ins with the law recently, which include alleged vandalism, urinating in buckets, egging houses and participating in drag races while under the influence. Some concerned citizens have even launched campaigns to get the crooner deported.

    But on this morning’s Today show, a concerned Gibb talked about Bieber’s issues to anchorman Matt Lauer.

    “Things don’t really change much, do they?” he asked, referring to Bieber’s troubles. “If you’re a teenage idol and all the young girls love you, you can lose that pretty quick.”

    Hear about some of Bieber’s recent issues, here:

    Gibb has certainly has his fair share of followers, as he was once considered the cat’s meow back in the days of disco. He and his brothers, Maurice and Robin, had modest singing careers in the 1950s, but rose to the top once they recorded the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever in 1977. Once they were stars, they experienced some of the same issues that Bieber is now, which is why Gibb feels he can give the young star some advice.

    “You can lose perspective, but you can also lose them in the long run if you’re not a role model,” Gibb stated. “Hopefully what he does on stage and the way he dances and the way he sings, he will apply that to his real life. There’s a discipline in what he’s doing. Apply that discipline to how you want to behave.”

    Watch the interview:

    Image via YouTube