The Bee Gees are a group of brothers who were born in Douglas, The Isle of Man in Britain. They moved to Manchester on the mainland and began singing in the early ’50s and debuted at a local cinema. In 1958 the family emigrated to Australia.
The brothers initially called themselves Les Tossers (they were later to walk out of a TV talk show because of the joke made by the presenter). This was followed by The Rattlesnakes and later Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats and they have been active as a group since 1958.
A DJ called Bill Gates and a racetrack promoter, Bill Goode introduced them to radio and it was they who renamed them and the name was their initials and not just for the Brothers Gibb as is commonly thought. The group’s first LP Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees Sing and Play Barry Gibb Songs was released in 1965 and they returned to England in 1967 where other members of the group were added.
They split as a band in 1969 due to disagreements about Barry being promoted more than the others but they reunited in late 1970. They moved to Miami to record in 1975, at the suggestion of Eric Clapton. For the eight months beginning at Christmas 1977, they wrote six songs that held the No.1 position in the US charts for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks, three recorded by them, two by their brother Andy Gibb and one by Yvonne Elliman. The album Saturday Night Fever on which they were heavily featured is the biggest selling soundtrack of all time. They had 5 songs written by them in the Top 10 at the same time which ranks them 2nd behind The Beatles.
They appeared with Peter Frampton in the movie Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although one of the most parodied groups, they were successful as a group for over 40 years, recording as a group and also individually but retired the name of the group following the death of Maurice in 2003. Most of their hits were co-written by the three brothers.
Members
- Barry Gibb (1958-1969, 1970-2003) (vocals)
- Robin Gibb (1958-1969, 1970-2003) (vocals)
- Maurice Gibb (1958-1969, 1970-2003)(vocals/bass/guitar/keyboard)
- Vince Melouney (1967-1968) (guitar)
- Colin Petersen (1967-1969) (drums)
- Geoff Bridgeford (1969-1972) (drums)
- Alan Kendall (1971-1980, 1986-1999)(lead guitar)
- Dennis Bryon (1974-1980) (drums)
- Blue Weaver (1975-1980) (keyboards)
- Matt Bonelli (1993-2003) (bass)
- Steve Rucker (1993-2003) (drums)
- Ben Stivers (1997-2003?) (keyboards)
Bee Gees Recordings
- Jive Talking (Barry Gibb/Maurice Gibb/Robin Gibb)
- Wind of Change (Barry Gibb /Robin Gibb)
- Nights on Broadway (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb)
- Edge of the Universe (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb)
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