Barry Gibb

Background

Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, who goes by Barry Gibb, was born in Douglas on the Isle of Man. His father, Hugh, was a drummer who worked in various hotels across his hometown at the time he was born. His mother, Barbara, was a full-time stay-at-home mother. He is one of four siblings. Gibb attended three different schools during his childhood between 1951 and 1953 because his family often relocated. In 1955, at just nine years old, he formed a band called The Rattlesnakes along with his twin brothers Robin and Maurice. The group performed its first professional concert just two years later in 1957. The following year, the Gibb family moved to Queensland and the band changed its name to the Bee Gees. The band released their first song ‘The Battle of the Blue and the Grey’ under their new name in 1963. Between 1963 and 1966, Gibb wrote all of the songs for the Bee Gees and also wrote songs for several Australian musicians.

The band returned to the United Kingdom in 1967, which was the year they would start achieving worldwide popularity. The fame took a toll on Gibb’s physical health and he returned to Australia at the end of that year. The group disbanded at the end of 1969 and Gibb began his solo career. He released his first solo single, ‘I’ll Kiss Your Memory,’ in 1970. In August of that year, the band reunited and released their hit song ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart’, and it went on to become their first song to reach number one in America. The band moved to Los Angeles at the suggestion of fellow rock musician, Eric Clapton, in 1975. Gibb continued to write successful songs for the band and other recording artists and many film soundtracks between the 1970s and the early 2000s. In 1994, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in his capacity as an individual, and the Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a group in 1997.

In January 2003, Gibb’s brother and bandmate Maurice suddenly passed away, but the rest of the group continued to produce music. He continued to release music as a solo performer throughout the 2000s. In 2007, “Q” magazine ranked him at number 38 on its ‘100 Greatest Singers’ list In 2013, he appeared on the famous comedy skit TV show, “Saturday Night Live”, alongside performers such as Justin Timberlake, Madonna, and Sir Paul McCartney. He announced the start of his first American solo tour the next year. Gibb performed as a guest on pop-rock band Coldplay’s set at the Glastonbury Festival in 2016. At the end of 2020, he announced he would be releasing his latest album at the time, which featured country music superstars Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss.