THE BEE GEES

For the Brothers Gibb, singing in harmony is as natural as breathing.  They began performing when Barry was 9 and twins Robin and Maurice were 6, singing hits of the day at a local cinema.  After the Gibb family emigrated to Australia, the brothers achieved stardom as a teen pop group, earning their first No. 1 in 1966 with SPICKS AND SPECK.  They used the money from that hit to finance their return to England where they hooked up with legendary impresario Robert Stigwood.

The first four UK Been Gees albums contained a stream of hit singles (1941 NEW YORK MINING DISASTER, MASSACHUSETTS, TO LOVE SOMEBODY, HOLIDAY, GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU, I STARTED A JOKE, LONELY DAYS, HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART).  At the same time, Bee Gees songs were being recorded by some of their idols (including Elvis Presley, Sarah Vaughn, Al Green, Janis Joplin).

Always inspired by R & B music, the Bee Gees began making soul-drenched records in the 1970’s (Mr. Natural, Main Course and Children Of The World) featuring JIVE TALKING, NIGHTS ON BROADWAY, FANNY, YOU SHOULD BE DANCING AND LOVE SO RIGHT.  1977’s SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER prompted a cultural revolution, became the highest selling soundtrack in history with No. 1 hits STAYIN’ ALIVE, NIGHT FEVER and HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE, and made the Bee Gees the biggest group in the world.  It was followed in 1978 by SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN which sold 20 million copies and produced 3 more million selling singles (TOO MUCH HEAVEN, TRAGEDY and LOVE YOU INSIDE OUT).

In the 1980’s, the Brothers took a break to work with some of their favourite singers, writing and producing GUILTY, Barbra Streisand’s Grammy-Award winner, with three top ten singles including No. 1 WOMAN IN LOVE; Diana Ross’ UK No. 1 CHAIN REACTION; Dionne Warwick’s HEARTBREAKER, and Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers’ ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, the most successful single in RCA Records’ history and Most Played Country Single of all time.  By the end of the 1980’s, the Bee Gees had resumed their own place on centre stage.  After the success of their singles ORDINARY LIVES, ONE and YOU WIN AGAIN, they launched an RSO tour on three continents for three generations of Bee Gees fans.

The 1990’s were marked by the worldwide success of several albums including HIGH CIVILIZATION, SIZE ISN’T EVERYTHING and STILL WATERS (1997) which featured the worldwide Top 10 single ALONE and sold more than 5 million copies.  After not touring for many years, the Bee Gees performed one concert in 1998 (ONE NIGHT ONLY) which was filmed for HBO and broadcast in every major territory of the world, yielding a multi-platinum CD, home video and DVD.  In the same year LWT filmed the Bee Gees for television in an intimate AN AUDIENCE WITH …. which was the most highly rated music show of 1998 in the UK.  They finished the millennium with six sold-out stadium shows on five continents.

The Brothers Gibb are the only artists to write and produce six consecutive No. 1 singles.  They are also the only composers to have five songs in the top ten at the same time.  They have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Songwriters Hall Of Fame, named by the Brit Awards for Outstanding contribution to Music and earned numerous Lifetime Achievement honours from societies around the globe.  Hundreds of artists have recorded their songs.

Links: Official Bee Gees Website