Introduction
The pop music world has lost another legendary figure. Robin Gibb, a founding member of the Bee Gees, passed away on Sunday after a long battle with cancer. His death came just days after the passing of Donna Summer.
Gibb and his brothers left an indelible mark on music that went far beyond the Disco era. Between 1967 and 1979, the Bee Gees produced five platinum albums and more than 20 hit songs, making history as the only group to place five songs in the Top 10 at the same time.
In 2009, Robin reunited with his eldest brother Barry at a Miami recording studio, revisiting the sound that produced some of the most iconic hits of the 1970s. “Were you consciously trying to reinvent yourselves?” asked CBS. Robin replied, “If we thought about it as reinventing ourselves, it was really just about writing something that inspired us, recording something that excited us.”
CBS News’s Anthony Mason witnessed one of the Bee Gees’ final performances. Just months later, Robin was rushed to Oxford Hospital for emergency intestinal surgery—the same condition that had claimed his twin brother, Maurice, in 2003. The Gibb brothers had already endured the loss of their youngest sibling, Andy, in 1988 due to alcohol-related issues. Maurice’s death had nearly fractured the remaining brothers’ bond. Robin once said, “I was afraid because I knew where Barry was emotionally. His way of expressing himself was by retreating. I wanted to keep the Bee Gees together as a trio.”
Over their career, the Bee Gees sold more than 200 million records, including 40 million copies of Saturday Night Fever. Despite facing backlash during the Disco era, their influence on popular culture never faded. In 1997, the Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Earlier this year, Robin revealed he had been battling colon and liver cancer for 18 months. As recently as March, he was rehearsing with Barry and appeared to be in remission, even planning to attend the premiere of Titanic Ream.
Robin Gibb was 62 years old.
—Elaine Kiano, CBS News, New York
Video: Bee Gees – How Deep Is Your Love