Robin Hugh Gibb
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4
Awards
Singer and songwriter Robin Gibb, a member of the Bee Gees, joined brothers Barry and Maurice to create the blockbuster 1977 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The album ranked among the best-selling of all time. Gibb won a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices. He received a CBE in 2001 from Queen Elizabeth II and died of colorectal cancer in 2012.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Robin Gibb — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Robin Gibb by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Robin Gibb — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Half an hour before his twin brother Maurice, Robin Hugh Gibb arrived on December 22, 1949 in Douglas, Isle of Man. His parents Barbara and Hugh Gibb were both musical—Barbara sang, Hugh was a drummer and bandleader. The family moved to Manchester, England, then emigrated to Australia in 1958. There, Robin, Maurice, and older brother Barry performed under various names, eventually settling on the Bee Gees.
In Australia, the Bee Gees first topped the charts in 1965 with Spicks and Specks. They relocated to the UK in 1966 and signed with Polydor. After brief tensions and a solo stint by Robin in the late 1960s, the group reunited and shifted to a disco sound. In 1977, they wrote and produced five songs for the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack became among the highest-selling of all time and launched the Bee Gees to global stardom. The group also penned hits for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, and Kenny Rogers. After Maurice died in 2003, the Bee Gees disbanded, but Robin continued solo work and charity support for British troops.
On December 4, 1968, Robin Gibb married Molly Hullis. They had two children: son Spencer born September 21, 1972 and daughter Melissa born June 17, 1974. The marriage ended in October 1982. He married Dwina Murphy on July 31, 1985, and they had a son, Robin John RJ Gibb, born January 21, 1983. In 2008, his housekeeper Claire Yang gave birth to his daughter Snow Evelyn Robin Juliet Gibb. Robin underwent treatment for colorectal cancer, including emergency surgeries, but died on May 20, 2012 in Chelsea, London.
Robin Gibb and the Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him a CBE in 2001, and the University of Manchester granted him an honorary doctorate. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack still defines the disco era. Gibb’s distinctive vibrato and harmonies shaped pop and disco music for decades. His legacy continues as the co-vocalist of the Bee Gees, whose album sales rank among the highest in music history.
Browse the complete filmography of Robin Gibb — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Robin Gibb — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Robin Gibb — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
She Is Probably the Greatest Female Popular Singer in the Modern Pop Rock Era Since 1963, There’s Been No One to Match Her. This Includes the United States as Well They Can’t Come Close to Her. Today They Just Pose at Singing. She Was the Genuine Article. I Don’t Think There Will Ever Be Anyone That Could Take the Place of Dusty Springfield.
Lots of People Aren’t Comfortable with Silences. They Feel They’ve Got to Fill the Dead Air.
I Sometimes Wonder If the Tragedies My Family Has Suffered Are a Kind of Karmic Price for All the Fame and Fortune the Bee Gees Have Had.
If the Heart Stops for More Than Two Minutes, You Have Massive Brain Death. There Are Only Two Minutes Between Our Conscious World and Zero. That’s How Fragile Our Consciousness Is.
My Idea of a Good Time Is Creating Something and Reading a Good Book.
I Don’t Have Too Much Faith in Destiny, or an Afterlife. This Is It.
When Maurice Touched a Keyboard, It Was Like Something from a Movie, Magical. He Would Always Give You Something from a Movie, and You’d Go, What Did You Just Play… Immediately Inspirational Writings, Amazing. That’s What We’re Going to Miss.
Nobody Will Ever Take Maurice’s Place, and He’ll Go on with Us and He’ll Go on Our Music. He’ll Go on with Us as the Bee Gees, and Maurice Will Always Be with Us.
The Bee Gees, to Us, Was the Three Brothers. in Maurice’s Name, We Would Respect That and Not Be the Bee Gees Anymore.
I Don’t Take Things for Granted, Because Everything Feels More Fragile. It’s Made Me Wonder About Mortality and How Long You’ve Got Somebody in the World. I’m More Fearful Than I Used to Be.
The Bee Gees Were Always Heavily Influenced by Black Music. as a Songwriter, It’s Never Been Difficult to Pick up on the Changing Styles of Music Out There, and Soul Has Always Been My Favourite Genre.
Music Is Being Treated as One Big Karaoke Machine.
I Think for Anybody, Any Family, and I Know There Are Families Out There That Are Going Through This Even Now, That It Is the Hardest Thing in the World. Nobody Is Ever Prepared for It.
Rarely Do I Attach Guilt to Something Pleasant. Life’s Too Short.
I Don’t Like Lifts and Will Walk up 20 Flights of Stairs If I Have To. Crowded Rooms Make Me Uncomfortable, Too, Although I Can Sing to a Stadium Full of Thousands of People No Bother.
I’d Never Try to Be That Distinctive from the Bee Gees’ Sound. I’m Very Proud of Being a Bee Gee and Am Always Aware That I’ll Be Identified as a Bee Gee.
As the Plane Got Closer to Miami, I Had This Terrible Feeling He Was Dying. Maybe He Was Telling Me That He Was Going. I Felt Anger, Panic, Despair and Helplessness.
We Will Pursue Every Factor, Every Element, Every Second of the Timeline, of the Final Hours of Maurice’s Life. We Will Pursue That Relentlessly. That Will Be Our Quest from Now On.
I Love Food, I Love Eating.
I’m Not a Party Person or Someone Who Likes to Sit and Drink in Clubs All Night, and Never Really Have Been. I Have a Good Time Through Work.
Losing People Makes You Realize You’ve Got to Grab Life Not Put Things Off.
In the Beginning, Barry and I Couldn’t Decide If We Were Going Got Go Forward with the Name of the Bee Gees or Just as Barry and Robin. Now We’ve Decided to Continue as the Bee Gees Because We Feel We Can, and Maurice Would Have Wanted It.
You Know, We’d Just Had a Birthday, He Was… You Know, He Still Had a Future Out of Him, and All I Can Is He Was Just One of the Most Beautiful People in the World… a Very Gifted Man, and It’s a Loss to the World, Not Just for Us.
I’ve Always Been Thin. If You Go Back to When We First Started I’ve Always Been Skinny.
Music Became an Obsession, and Eventually We Felt More Comfortable with Each Other Then We Did with Anyone Else. the Three of Us Were Like One Person.
It Just Felt Like the Right Time to Focus on Solo Material.
With Maurice Suddenly Going, I Realised… I Think I’ve Matured. I Don’t Take Things Lightly Any More.
I Haven’t Really Met Anyone Else Who Has Influenced Me, but You Never Know, It Could Happen Next Year or Next Month. I Just Like to Go with the Spur of the Moment.
I Find It Very, Very Hard. He Was Part of the Fabric of My Life. We Were Kids Together, and Teenagers. We Spent the Whole of Our Lives with Each Other Because of Our Music.
I’m Really Happy That I Got to Work with Such Fresh Talent. in a Day When Record Companies Are Not Particularly Good at Encouraging Young, Talented Songwriters to Come Forward and Get Exposure, I Think It’s Important to Give Tomorrow’s Songwriters the Opportunity.
I Hadn’t Accepted He Was Seriously Ill. the Idea That Someone so Close to You Couldn’t Wake up Was Utterly Incomprehensible. Then the Doctor Came In… Maurice Had No Brain Left. There Wasn’t Any Activity at All.
We Said We’d Fly the Flag Without Him and Carry On. I Didn’t Give Him a Kiss Because I Still Hadn’t Accepted What Was Happening. I Was Hoping That Some Miracle Was Going to Happen. of Course, It Didn’t. I Wish I Had Kissed Him Now.
You Realize That However Much You Don’t Think About Death or Think That’s for Other People You’re Just an Organism Living from Day to Day. I’m Just Grateful I’m Here.
The Illness, and the Untimely Death of My Brothers, Has Made Me Conscious of the Fact That Rather Than Just Think About It It’s Crucial That You Do Today What You Want to Do.
I’ve Always Been Naturally Thin.
My Work Means Everything to Me.
It Makes Us Feel Better That Everyone Out There Is Thinking of Maurice.
It’s Hard for Me to Put on Weight.
We’ve Been in Each Other’s Pockets Our Entire Lives.
I Love Stuff Like Mozart.
I Don’t Know What ‘Home’ or ‘Abroad’ Is Any More.
I Visit English Country Churchyards Where Historical Figures Are Buried.
I Don’t Like Fruit but I’m Vegetarian, so Eat a Lot of Veggies.
I Don’t Like Rock Opera with Back Beats.
How Do You Explain the Bond Between Man and Wife? Well, for One Thing, It’s Private. What People Do in Their Own Marriage Is Their Own Business.
Everyone’s Looking to the Urban Scene for Inspiration Now.
My Whole Life Has Been a Bit Like a Nintendo Game.
I’ll Never Get Used to Living Without Mo, but the Painful Things That Surround What Happened to Him Aren’t so Painful Any More Not so Raw or so New.
You’re Looking at the Bee Gees Right Now.
Little-known facts about Robin Gibb — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
On 5 November 1967, at age 17, Gibb and his fiancée Molly survived a train derailment at Hither Green, London; he narrowly escaped decapitation by a piece of rail.
The Sunday Times List estimated the combined net worth of Gibb and his brother Barry at $180 million.
He and the Bee Gees received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6845 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
In April 2012, he contracted pneumonia and was in a coma before his death.
Twin brother of Maurice Gibb; brother of Barry Gibb and Andy Gibb.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of the Bee Gees.
On November 4, 2008, his housekeeper Claire Yang gave birth to his daughter Snow Evelyn Robin Juliet Gibb at Portland Hospital in London.
He battled liver cancer as of November 2011.
In February 2012, he was making a full recovery from inflammation of the colon.
Diagnosed with colorectal cancer on April 23, 2012.
The Gibb brothers lived on Cribb Island, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia; the area is now covered by Brisbane International Airport.
Children from first marriage: son Spencer born September 21, 1972 and daughter Melissa born June 17, 1974; from second marriage: son Robin John RJ Gibb, born January 21, 1983.
Underwent emergency surgery for a blocked intestine in August 2010; his twin Maurice died from complications of the same procedure in 2003.
Underwent intestinal surgery on March 26, 2012 to remove a blood clot in his colon.
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994 with brothers Barry and Maurice.
Unveiled a Heritage Foundation Blue Plaque at Pinewood Studios for Sir John Mills on May 9, 2010, alongside Hayley Mills, Juliet Mills, Simon MacCorkindale, and Susan George.
His funeral service was held at St. Mary’s Church in Thame, Oxfordshire on June 8, 2012, with a horse-drawn carriage.
In summer 2006, he moved back to Peel, Isle of Man.
Served as a guest judge on American Idol.
Awarded a CBE Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the New Year’s Honours List 2001.
Born at 3:15 am.
Member of the Bee Gees.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Robin Gibb.
Celebrities similar to Robin Gibb — same craft, ranked by reach.
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