The Bee Gees, one of the most beloved trios in pop music history, has only one member left. Robin Gibb, the co-founder of the pop-turned-disco mega-group, has died after a long battle with colorectal cancer. He was 62.
The news of Robin Gibb’s death has disco lovers in an emotional tailspin. The Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, passed away from cancer this past week. Together, they stood head and shoulders over all other musical acts of this genre during this period in music history.
Robin Gibb, 62, had been hospitalized for pneumonia and underwent surgery last year to remove a growth from his colon, was central to the group’s success both as a songwriter and a vocalist. He was the original lead singer, and his tangy, tremulous tenor and older brother Barry’s deeper, breathier, falsetto-prone voice were constants as the Bee Gees traversed a wide range of musical styles.
Robin had a twin, Maurice, who died in 2003 after battling alcoholism for decades. He suffering a blocked intestine and cardiac arrest at the time of his death. Youngest brother Andy Gibb was also a record-breaking singer as a solo artist who died at age 30 from complications of prolonged drug use in the 1980s.
