Here’s wishing a Happy 75th Birthday to Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of The Bee Gees.
Barry formed The Bee Gees with younger brothers Robin and Maurice, and the group’s first success came in Australia in the early 1960s after the Gibb family moved there from the U.K.
The Bee Gees’ career took off internationally after the Gibbs moved back to the U.K. in 1967.
The group’s first U.S. hit was “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” which peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in ’67. Over the next several years, the group scored such other hits as “To Love Somebody,” “Massachusetts,” “Words,” “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You,” “Lonely Days” and the chart-topping “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”
In the mid-’70s, The Bee Gees began exploring a more danceable, R&B-influenced sound that featured Barry’s signature falsetto vocals, leading to hits like “Jive Talkin’,” “Nights on Broadway,” and “You Should Be Dancing.”
In 1977, The Bee Gees were catapulted to super-stardom with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which helped launch the disco craze. The album ultimately went 16-times platinum on the strength of the #1 hits “Night Fever,” “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Stayin’ Alive.”
The Bee Gees’ popularity began waning by 1980 thanks partly to a backlash against disco, but Barry and his brothers continued to have success writing songs for other artists, including their youngest brother, Andy, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton, Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross.
The Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Sadly, Maurice and Robin died in 2003 and 2012, respectively.
In recent years, Barry has focused on a solo career. His latest album, a star-studded duets collection Greenfields, was released in January.
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