The new single of Robin is a cover of “My lover’s prayer”, the Bee Gees song originally included in the ‘Still Waters’ album (1997). The song will be a duet with Alistair Griffin, a young performer who was second in Fame Academy 2, and it will be released on December 29.
The song is a different version from the R&B one that included the guest appearances of Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) and Lance Bass (*Nsync). That version, intended for the U.S. market, had to be included in an upgraded edition of ‘Magnet’, but it was not officially released, due to the lack of legal agreements between the recording labels of the artist involved in the project and for some problems in the U.S. release of the Robin’ solo album.
Now Robin, after the experience in ‘Fame Academy 2’ as a judge, will release (only in UK, anyway), this new single (not included in ‘Magnet’, but included in the upcoming first album of Alistair Griffin).
Robin will appear with Griffin in several promotional TV and radio shows and a videoclip of the song has been filmed in the last weeks. The double A-side single will also include a Griffin composition, ‘Bring it on’ in which Robin is not present.
Barry Gibb, finally(20/11/2003)
In these days the first public appearances of Barry Gibb after the death of Maurice.
Barry has decided to not sell the Bee Gees recording studio, the Middle Ear studio in Miami, as he intends to keep on working on new music. He is now the only owner of the studio, since he has bought Robin's and Maurice's family's shares.
Barry has been working on two new songs for Cliff Richard: ‘How many sleeps’ (written with his friend David English) and ‘I cannot give you my love’ (written with his son Ashley). The two songs will be included in the new Richard’s album, that will be released in 2004.
It seems also that Barry he plans to play live with an orchestra at some shows, including the Love and Hope Ball 2004.
A special Award from UNESCO for Robin(10/11/2003)
The Unesco's Pyramide Children Award has been presented to Robin Gibb in Dusseldorf, Germany, on November 8. Robin and, his wife Dwina have contributed to several Unesco's projects over the years. The "Kinder in Not" (Children in Need) Unesco Gala was held in Dusseldorf (Germany) on November 8. It raised 2,035,000 euro. Robin attended the Gala and performed solo and Bee Gees songs. Other guests were Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, Poland's ex-president Lech Walesa, actors Peter Ustinov and Val Kilmer, singer Bonny Tyler.
Unforgettable Maurice(07/11/2003)
One of the parks of Miami Beach, the Island View Park, will be renamed “the Maurice Gibb Memorial Park”. Last april a commissioner proposed a memorial in the form of a bench and naming of an area of the park in honour of Maurice, but the family proposed the park to be renamed Maurice Gibb Memorial Park. The question had to be put on the ballot for the November 4 election and has been approved by Miami citizens. In the meantime, some fans produced and released the album 'Everybody clap', a tribute to Maurice Gibb by his fans. The work, a special limited release, will be available on November 8th. There are 18 songs written by Maurice The tracks are: On Time, Trafalgar, Man In The Middle, Hold Her In Your Hand, You Know It's For You, Walking On Air, Omega Man, House of Shame, Soldier Johnny, Crystal Bay, Raining Teardrops, Country Woman, Railroad, Lay It On Me, Wildflower, Everybody Clap. The album includes also the unreleased 'Danny' and 'Silly little girl', a short spoken intro by Maurice and a cameo appearance of ex-Bee Gees drummer Geoff Bridgford.
The World Artist Award (Lifetime Achievement) for the Bee Gees(24/10/2003)
The Bee Gees have been honoured with the World Artist Award by the World Awards, which honours “men of distinction for their outstanding achievements”. The Grand World Awards Gala has been held in Hamburg on October 22, 2003 and Mikhail Gorbachev presented it. Robin Gibb attended the show and picked up the award on behalf of the Bee Gees.
The ceremony has been broadcasted in several countries (unfortunately not in Italy) all over the world, and reached an audience of 350 million people. The World Artist Award was presented to Paul Mc Cartney in 2001 and to Micheal Jackson in 2002.
Robin Gibb has joined the UK popular show Fame Academy 2 as a tutor.
The programme will be aired on BBC1 and BBC3 from July 26.
On August 20 the show has been dedicated to the Bee Gees and a CD with the 14 songs performed by the contestants has been released on August 25.
The songs included are: You Should Be Dancing, To Love Somebody, Words, Massachusetts, I've Gotta Get A Message to You, How Deep Is Your Love, More Than A Woman, Tragedy, Too Much Heaven, Guilty, Heartbreaker, Islands In The Stream, You Win Again.
Robin: "The Bee Gees will go on"(09/08/2003)
"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE MY BROTHER IS DEAD"
By Rebecca Hardy (9 August 2003, "Daily Mail", UK)
Maurice Gibb's trademark hat is now gathering dust in an upstairs cupboard at his twin brother's Oxfordshire home. Robin has had it since Maurice died from brain damage caused by cardiac arrest at Miami's Mount Sinai ospital in January. He was just 53.
His brother hasn't looked at the hat since he took possession of it. He can't. He doesn't look at photos of Maurice either, or the home movies made when they were children.'The other weekend I was on the ferry to Ireland and they were showing a documentary about the Bee Gees', says Robin. 'They had these giant screens and Maurice's face was everywhere. I couldn't look at them. I can't look at his face even in a photograph.'
This is Robin's first interview since his brother's sudden death and although seven months have passed, he still refuses to accept that he is gone.
'I find it very, very hard,' he says. '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 can't accept that he's dead. I just imagine he's alive somewhere else. Pretend is the right word. Pretend is where I'm at.'
I met Robin at his home, a former monastery in Thames, which he shares with his second wife, Dwina Murphy-Gibb. We last met here a month before Maurice' s sudden death. Robin was stick-thin then, but seems to have lost even more weight. The deep sadness about him is etched around his eyes. Robin was the intense, sensitive twin: the lyricist, the introvert. Maurice, the musical arranger, was the extrovert. Together with their elder brother, Barry, they started creating a world of music to escape from a childhood made harsh by poverty.
Born on the Isle of Man to Barbara and Hugh, the Gibbs moved round Britain as their father sought work to feed his family of seven. 'The real world was just too real and we didn't want to be a part of normal life,' says Robin. 'We wanted to create a magical world for the three of us.' Maurice and Robin started singing harmonies at the age of six, practising in the bathroom to achieve the echo effect they wanted. When their father first heard them, he thought it was the radio.
By the time the twins were seven, he was taking them to clubs where he worked and paying them half a crown each. In 1958, the family immigrated to Australia, where the three brothers launched their recording career.Before long they were supporting the entire family and soon after moving back to England in 1967, they became one of the biggest entertainment acts in the world. Their success bonded them even closer together.
'Music became an obsession and eventually we felt more comfortable with each other then we did with anyone else,' says Robin. 'The three of us were like one person.'
The devastation is clear in his voice. Emotionally unable to talk about Maurice's death until now, Robin speaks with a raw honesty - and no little anger.
Maurice died shortly after midnight on January 12. He had checked himself into Mount Sinai hospital less then three days previously, complaining of stomach pains.
Doctors did not detect that he had a twisted bowel. He was given painkillers and was due to be examined the following day. During the night his intestine burst, flooding his body with toxins and causing cardiac arrest.
Maurice, who was married to Yvonne and had two children, Adam and Samantha, had been placed on the eighth floor, which is reserved for VIPS. The
hospital's emergency equipment was three floors below. It took more than ten minutes to retrieve the equipment to restart Maurice's heart, by which time he had suffered massive brain damage.
'One morning I'd woken up about 4am feeling nauseous,' says Robin. 'The feeling lasted about an hour. It was at the time Maurice was in hospital with pains in his stomach. It was probably some indication that something was wrong, because I have never, ever had that feeling before.'
'I was called in Oxfordshire by our personal assistant early on the Thursday morning and told Maurice had had cardiac arrest and was having surgery',he recalls. 'I was in total shock. I didn't even know he was in hospital.'
Eighty percent of Maurice's stomach was removed during surgery and he did not regain consciousness. The following day he was placed on a life support machine and Robin flew out to Miami with Dwina.
'I left on the Saturday morning. The doctors were saying there was still a chance that they'd get him back.'
'You hope against hope that they're right. I thought: "This can't be happening. He's too young for this He's not ill. He's never been ill."
'But 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.'
'The helplessness was the worst thing - that and great fear. It was like mentally being in hell.'
Robin was met at the airport by two policemen and the brother's personal assistant, Dick Ashby. He was taken first to his brother, Barry's house and then to the hospital, where he was left alone with Maurice.
'If your brain is dead, your personality, your sense of self, everything about you is dead, but Mo just looked as if he was asleep. He had good colour and even though he was on a machine, his breathing was normal. I held his hand and it felt warm and loose. There was nothing clammy or sickly about him.
'My instinct then was to try and wake him up. I held his hand and shouted in his ear. I wasn't being loving or kind. I shouted: "Come on, this is ridiculous. F*****g wake up!" I did that for 15 minutes.
'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. I was alone with him so I asked: "Will he ever wake up again?" He said: "No." I said: "Is there any chance at all?" Again he said no because Maurice had no brain left. There wasn't any activity at all.'
Shortly afterwards, the doctor spoke to the family. They were told Maurice had suffered catastrophic lack of oxygen to the brain. If he had been shot in the head, the doctor said, he would have stood a better chance of survival.
'If the heart stops for more than two minutes, you have massive brain death, ' says Robin. 'There are only two minutes between our conscious world and zero. That's how fragile our consciousness is.
We all spoke about it together. Hard as it was for everybody, we knew Mo would not have wanted to be kept in that state for months if there was no chance.
'I knew in my heart of hearts he wasn't coming back. It was better that he went with dignity.
'That was about 10pm. We asked them to turn off the machine around 11:30. If he continued on his own, then fine; if he didn't.' Robin and Barry went together to say goodbye to their brother. Robin did not kiss him or shed tears.
'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.'
Emotionally exhausted, Robin left the hospital, expecting Maurice at least to live through the night. He was declared dead at 12:10am. His wife was by his side.
Robin was standing at the dock of his Miami home when he was told the news. When he eventually slept that night, he dreamt of Maurice.
'I dreamt I woke up in my bedroom in Miami and opened the bedroom door.Maurice was in the hallway but his back was to me. He had his hat on and he half looked round towards me. He was walking away. That told me that he knew what had happened.
'I also felt he was telling me I could have done something. I believe he'd been asking me for help when I woke up in Oxfordshire feeling nauseous.
If I 'd known he was in hospital, I could have saved him then.
'Maurice walked into that place complaining of a stomachache. He had eaten breakfast and hadn't been ill the day before that.'They took one x-ray, gave him a painkiller and the doctor said: "I'll send round a stomach specialist tomorrow. Good Afternoon." That was 4pm. Thirteen hours later he was brain dead.
'If he'd been a tramp off the street, he'd have been rushed straight into emergency and he'd have been alive. I believe the doctor completely screwed things up.
'There is a tremendous amount of anger and the hospital is not off the hook. The lawyers are looking into it - they have been since the day it happened, because his death was totally preventable.
'The days immediately following Maurice's death passed in a blur for Robin.
His feelings oscillated between anger, despair and complete devastation.
He received many letters of support from fans and fellow musicians. Sir Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton, men who have themselves known dreadful grief, were particularly supportive.
'They all said how important Mo's contribution to the industry was, but more importantly, on a personal level, they said what a great guy he was. At the end of the day, though, he still ain't here.'
Robin was not sure he would be strong enough to attend the funeral until the very last minute.
'I didn't want to go, not because I didn't love him, but because I was so shattered. I know I had to go to support Yvonne, but when I got to the door I still wouldn't go in.
At the last minute I said: "I'll go in as long as I don't have to see the thing. You know the."
'Even now, he can't bring himself to utter the word coffin. 'Of course, I opened the door and there it was. But having seen it, I thought the worst was over.'
Although over 100 friends attended the funeral, Robin drew no strength from such public mourning. 'It was awful, just like a dream and I found it very hard to speak. I said something along the lines of: "I can't see there can ever be any closure for me. I can never accept this."
'I was angry. I couldn't be on a podium and spit out anecdotes and festive moments from Mo's life. He'd just been torn from me.'
The timing of Maurice's death was for Robin, particularly traumatic. For although their brotherly bond had almost been torn apart by failed marriages and an addiction to drugs and alcohol, Robin and Maurice were closer than ever.
'In the early years Maurice had a problem with drink, as a lot of people in the industry do,' says Robin.
'But he'd stopped drinking years before. He was in really good shape. He'd had good health check-ups before this happened and was very happy in his
marriage.
I'd only spoken to him a few weeks before and he was very chirpy. He'd asked when I was back in Miami and I said I wouldn't be there until after the New Year.
'He said: "Try and get back for the second week of January so we can all sit down and decide what we're going to do for the year." I said: 'Fine." Of course I was back for the second week in January for his funeral.'
Robin remained in Miami for several days after the funeral. He found it an increasingly unbearable place to be and returned to England within a week.
'I couldn't stay there,' he says. 'I still find Miami very hard because from my dock I can see the hospital. I can't stand there and look at it.'
Maurice's ashes were buried at his home in the Bahamas and his wife, Yvonne, is to place a stone there. I will commemorate Maurice as a husband, father and brother.
Perhaps that will finally help Robin accept what has happened. But for the moment, he can't.
'If some people can imagine that a person they love is alive in another world, why can't I imagine Maurice is alive in this one? An artist is a person who uses art to run away from reality. It's not wrong-it's survival.
There's nothing wrong with me creating a world in which Maurice is alive.'
Creating music has been huge therapy for Robin. His latest single, A Lover's Prayer, will be released at the end of September. Then he and Barry will begin writing the first Bee Gee album without Maurice.
Meanwhile Robin is appearing as a judge on the BBC's Fame Academy. He says he's determined to identify and nurture the passion for music he shared with his brothers. Recently he was reminded of their own beginnings.
'I was in the car on my way to London and Radio 2 was doing the Bee Gees story. They started playing the demos we'd made, then I heard Maurice talking.
'Suddenly that feeling of helplessness and non-acceptance came flooding back. I don't think you can ever come to terms with something like this. But you can learn to live with it.
'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.' And the brothers have resolved another difficulty - how the Bee Gees should carry on.
'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.
He could play a few chords on a keyboard and inspire a whole song. I don't think anyone could play a few notes as magically as Maurice could. Maurice is a part of the history of the Bee Gees, so the music will always have Maurice in it.
We've lost Maurice, but we'll never lose his inspiration.'
New album and tour for the Bee Gees in 2004?(18/06/2003)
This is part of the article from El País, June 17, 2003 (by Diego A Manrique). It seemed the Bee Gees had come to an end when Maurice, Robin's twin brother, died last January. But it is not so. Robin: "In the confusion of that moment, we said things that we regretted later. In fact, Maurice's death was so out of the blue that it knocked us out. But I've worked again with Barry (the eldest Gibb brother) and we plan to go on using the Bee Gees name as a way of healing. In fact, the situation is not a new one: when I left the band, there was a time in which the group was a duo. If everything turns out OK, there will be a new record and tour in 2004." But in another article (By Francisco Chacón, "El Mundo", June 17, 2003), the situation seems to be still in doubt. Five months after Maurice Gibb's death, the future of the Bee Gees is in the air. His two brothers, Robin and Barry, are wracked by doubt. To keep the legacy of the legendary trio that has sold around 150 million records worldwide intact, or to pay tribute to the late bassist recording more songs? Robin Gibb admitted yesterday in Madrid that they are in doubt. And he said so when promoting his new solo album Magnet, that will be released in Spain next Monday. Robin: "It's been six months since his death, and it seems as if it had happened yesterday. Barry and I talk a lot about what we must do, but no firm decision has been taken yet.
(Special thanks to Andrea Basoa, Spain)
Talking Money with Barry Gibb(12/05/2003)
This article was published on 11 may 2003, but the interview was realized in november 2002.
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"Harmony on the Stage, Solo at the Bank" By GERALDINE FABRIKANT
When they stepped on stage at the Grammys ceremonies in February to accept the Legend Award, Barry and Robin Gibb, the two remaining Bee Gees, gave a touching tribute to their brother Maurice, who died a month earlier at the age of 53. Barry Gibb told the audience that "the measure of a man is his family" and gracefully handed the gold statue to Maurice's son, Adam. It was an appearance that cast the Gibb family as close-knit. But it masked a dispute in recent years among the three brothers, whose falsetto singing in the oundtrack of the film "Saturday Night Fever" came to symbolize the harmonies of the disco world in the late 1970's. That soundtrack, which once sent polyester partyers swooping onto dance floors around the world, turned the Gibbs into megastars. Though they continued to work together on albums and their families live within minutes of one another in Miami, Barry Gibb, the oldest, has at times been unhappy with his brothers, in part over the management of the Gibb business interests. By January of this year, his relationship with Robin had so deteriorated that Barry did not even know that Robin had made "Magnet," his first solo album since 1985, until it was released. And Barry said he was "devastated" to learn that Robin, in that album, had altered a classic Bee Gees song, "Wish You Were Here." Although Barry Gibb's rapport with Maurice was better, in 2001 Barry severed ties with Michael Eaton, a British lawyer who represented the group for over 30 years. Maurice and Robin Gibb, who were fraternal twins, stayed with Mr. Eaton. But Barry hired his own team to direct his business affairs. And in a striking divergence from decades in which the trio acted as one, Barry decided last year to have Warner/Chappell Music, a part of AOL Time Warner, handle his interest in the song publishing business. His brothers stayed with the group's longtime publisher, the BMG unit of Bertelsmann. The turmoil among family members has been resolved in recent weeks, Barry Gibb said in a telephone interview last Wednesday. But the differences among the Bee Gees, which he discussed during an interview earlier this year at his Miami mansion, offer insights into how complex family dynamics can affect what amounts to a successful family business. "What changed for me was a midlife crisis," said Barry Gibb, who is now 57. Sitting in the living room of the mansion he has owned since 1981, and dressed casually in sports slacks, a blue shirt and a gray cardigan, he talked softly of the unhappiness that led him to rethink how his affairs were handled. Mr. Gibb, whose songwriting skills were responsible for many Bee Gees hits, said that about five years ago he began to look hard at how the group's music was being promoted and how his own finances were managed. He didn't like what he found. He didn't feel that the publishing rights to the group's songs were promoted aggressively enough in a time when popular songs are used not only for advertising but also in other commercial applications like background music on telephone systems. "They were stagnating," he said. Mr. Gibb also wanted a better handle on his nvestments, which were spread between Britain and the United States. WHEN you get to 50, you change," he said. "I gained a fascination for the business, for understanding it, for archaeology, for ancient civilizations. You just reach an age where other things really start to interest you." So Mr. Gibb hired John Cousins, a British accountant who is senior partner of Cousins Brett, a firm that handles the business affairs of music groups. He also hired John Branca, a Hollywood music lawyer who sought a new music publishing deal for the Gibbs. But Robin and Maurice Gibb decided not to go along. Whether that decision was the cause of growing tension, or a result of it, Barry Gibb apparently wanted to establish more of his own identity. "All three of us were living in each other's pockets for 35 years," Barry Gibb said. "For the past five years, we were strangers." Among the sore points for Barry Gibb was family resistance to a suggestion he made five years ago that each group member write and produce for other people. "Neither Robin nor Maurice would accept that," he said. Though he did not name names, he said the tension had been exacerbated by a close family adviser, "who wanted to keep them together until there was trouble, and then it was divide and conquer. Make sure each brother doesn't trust the other," he said. Several associates said that Mr. Gibb believes that Mr. Eaton is the adviser who aggravated the tensions among the brothers. Mr. Gibb sounded neither angry nor bitter about the rift but appeared pleased that he had moved on and now had his own affairs under his control. There is a lot to tend to in his business empire. The Bee Gees, for Brothers Gibb, are pop music royalty. The group, known for tight white jumpsuits and big hair during its prime, has written hits in every decade since the 1960's. The only group to outsell the Bee Gees has been the Beatles, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After the death of Maurice Gibb, Barry and Robin said they would continue to work together, but not as the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees' sound was always a seemingly effortless harmony, but their energy and productivity were enormous. Their first hit, "Spicks and Specks," which went to the top of the Australian charts in 1967, started a family career that produced a catalog of 600 songs and 28 albums. "When I first heard them, I was astounded," said Ahmet M. Ertegun, a founder of Atlantic Records, the group's first American distributor. "They had the most beautiful voices, unlike anything I had ever heard: beautiful clarity and a lot of feeling. It was the sound of brothers like the Everly Brothers. There is something about brothers harmonizing together. They were fantastic." With ups and downs, the Bee Gees created a roster of hits like "Massachusetts," "Stayin' Alive" and "How Deep Is Your Love." Barry Gibb produced successful albums for Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross, as well as the best-selling version of "Islands in the Stream" performed by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. The group was never a touring phenomenon, however, and so it did not cash in on an extremely lucrative side of the music business. Although Mr. Gibb would not reveal his net worth, several people close to him put the value of his real estate and investments at $30 million to $50 million, of which $20 million is invested in homes that include his Miami property, a 90-acre estate near London and homes he has bought for his mother and two of his five children. For roughly the last decade, his advisers have kept a large chunk of assets in very conservative currency funds that invested in British pounds and in dollars. Some assets were invested in Britain and some were handled by Goldman, Sachs in the United States. But during the last several years, Barry Gibb has consolidated all his holdings at Sanford C. Bernstein, the New York investment firm, in part because he grew unhappy with Goldman, Sachs. Much of the investment, he said, is in fixed-income securities. "Goldman, Sachs put my kids' trusts in the stock market when I specifically asked them not to," he said. "That broke the bond of trust. I decided I had to get my stuff out of there." He has never been much of a fan of the stock market, he said, believing that real estate and bonds gave him more security. A Goldman, Sachs spokeswoman said that the firm had no records to suggest that Mr. Gibb did not want equities in his children's accounts or that he had ever been unhappy with the asset allocation. As for why he chose Sanford C. Bernstein, "I thought they were bold, and they handled high-profile people," he said. "I felt that Goldman, Sachs was handling 10,000 people." The Gibb brothers' real source of wealth is their publishing catalog, which experts say could fetch up to $150 million. Barry Gibb would get $60 million; he has a 40 percent stake in the catalog because he wrote more songs than his brothers did. The catalog reflects the ownership value of songs they have written and generates fees every time recordings of those songs are sold or played.
By the end of 2005, Barry and Robin Gibb and Maurice's estate will also own the copyrights to almost all their recordings. Most of those copyrights are currently held by Universal Music, their record label and a unit of Vivendi Universal. A sale of the rights to their records could bring each Gibb $15 million to $20 million, several music industry experts estimate.
Whether or not they sell the rights, Barry Gibb receives substantial income from publishing and record sales. One person who has seen the financial details of the catalogs said the music publishing revenue alone generates about $8 million a year, of which Barry Gibb keeps $3.2 million. Sales of older albums, along with the five new ones the brothers have released since 1993, run at about 2.4 million albums a year, according to Universal Music. Those sales could give Mr. Gibb about $1.5 million a year, a person close to Mr. Gibb said. There have been a handful of tours, too. In 1998, Allen Kovac, the chief executive of 10th Street Entertainment, a firm in Los Angeles that manages the group, arranged six concerts, a tour that netted each brother about $2 million, according to another person close to the group. The Bee Gees have their roots on the Isle of Man, where Barry was born in 1946. When he was 9, his father, Hugh Gibb, a dance band leader, moved the family to Brisbane, Australia. By then, Barry and his younger brothers, Robin and Maurice, were singing. "Our parents came home one day and heard us, and they thought it was the radio, but our grandfather told them it was us," Barry recalled. The three started performing on local radio shows and by 1967 had their first hit. Hugh Gibb decided that he had to take them to London if they were to become world stars. Almost immediately, Robert Stigwood, an entertainment entrepreneur, signed them and the group took off.
In 1975, Mr. Stigwood asked to borrow several songs the trio had written so he could use them for a new film, "Saturday Night Fever."
When the disco fever broke, the Bee Gees were pulled down with it. But Barry Gibb's songwriting and producing talent was still in demand and the family continued to record best-selling albums. Since the early 1960's, the brothers have had 14 that ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the United States, according to the online music reference site allmusic.com.
Their youngest brother, Andy, who died of a heart disorder in 1988 at the age of 30, was a solo pop music performer but collaborated with his brothers on some of his songs. The brothers have practically lived together throughout their careers. The home of Barry Gibb and his wife, Linda, on Biscayne Bay is two doors down from Robin's home; Jennifer Lopez recently paid $9.5 million for the property in between. Maurice's family lives nearby.
THE clannishness, however, has belied tension that began before Barry Gibb reached his midlife reassessment. Just as the Bee Gees' voices seem to meld so effortlessly, their creative efforts were supposed to be a blur, so no one would get more credit than anyone else, he said. But he had come to feel that his own role was not properly acknowledged. "I made an album with Barbra Streisand that sold 15 million copies," he said, referring to "Guilty," in 1980. "We won a Grammy for best duet, but I was not allowed to mention that Grammy during interviews. Over a long period of time, those things make you distraught.
"When you are in your 20's and 30's, you just want a hit record and you don't really care how it happens," he said. "But when you are in your 50's, you want a hit record, and you want to be recognized as the person who came up with it." Whatever the reason, Barry Gibb began focusing on the Bee Gees' businesses, in part, several associates said, because he was not happy with how they were being handled. In a telephone interview, Mr. Eaton said he made good deals for the Gibbs. "People in the industry know what I did for the family," he said. Barry Gibb's goal in hiring Mr. Branca, the Hollywood lawyer, was to have him represent all the Gibbs in a new publishing deal. Mr. Branca recalled that in his first meetings with Warner/Chappell, "I thought I was representing the whole family, but at the last minute, the other two brothers would not go along." The chairman of BMG Music Publishing, Nicholas Firth, defended the decision of Robin and Maurice Gibb, asserting that BMG is the fastest-growing company in the industry.
Barry Gibb also had issues with a contract that his lawyers had negotiated with Universal. He found that the records were "cross collateralized," a common industry practice in which Universal could recover, from the sale of other albums, the advance it paid the group for an album that did not do well.
"It lit me up," Barry Gibb recalled. "I had never agreed to it, and it was in the contract. That was when the trouble started."
He said Robin, however, was less concerned about the business issues at the record label than with making another recording. He said his brothers were not upset because "they didn't understand."
Today, Barry Gibb seems convinced that focusing on business issues has paid off. He said he had made progress with Universal. The family struck a deal that lets it out of its contract by enabling it to compile another album of "greatest hits" rather than make a new recording. Now that he has streamlined his business affairs, and resolved the turmoil with his family, Mr. Gibb may well feel that his midlife crisis was worth it.
"Magnet" in Italy(25/03/2003)
"Magnet", the new album of Robin Gibb, will be released in Italy next week, distributed by Edel Records Italia. The album was originally released in Germany in February and in UK in March, reaching (respectively) #10 and #43. The set should be released also in other European countries, including France and Belgium. The first single, "Please" reached top 40 in Germany but failed to enter the top 50 in UK. The second single, "Wish you were here" (the remake of the Bee Gees song originally included in "One") will be released in Germany on 26 march and on the 3rd of april in UK. At the moment there are no news about the release of any single and about promotional appearances in Italy.
The Bee Gees honored at the 2003 Grammys (24/02/2003)
After CBS known anchorman Ed Bradley's eulogy to Maurice Gibb, Barry, Robin and Adam Gibb (Maurice's son) accepted the Legend Grammy Award. "I think this is just a little bit harder than Robin and I imagined it could ever be," said Barry Gibb, who received a standing ovation with his brother when they walked on stage. "It's getting harder." "I think Maurice would have loved this," he added. "We know he's watching - he always watched the Grammys - and tonight he's watching." "We love Maurice very much," said Robin. "He's in our hearts forever and we're very proud of him tonight." Then they invited Maurice Gibb's son, Adam, on stage to accept the award. "I know how much my dad loved doing what he did, and he would have loved being here right now," Adam Gibb said. "I know he'd want to thank one person and that's my mom, because she was his rock." Before the award was presented, the boy band 'N Sync sang an a cappella medley of Bee Gees hits, including "How Deep Is Your Love", "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" and "Stayin' Alive".
Legend Grammy Award for the Bee Gees(13/02/2003)
The Bee Gees will be honored with the GRAMMY Legend Award in a special presentation that will include a performance by 'N Sync, at the 45th Annual GRAMMY Awards, set for Feb. 23 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The GRAMMY Legend Award will be given to the Bee Gees during a special segment featuring a performance by 'N Sync. This Special Merit Award is presented by the Recording Academy to individuals or groups for contributions and influence in the recording field. The GRAMMY Legend Award was inaugurated in 1990 and since then were awarded: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Liza Minnelli, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson (1990), Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Quincy Jones (1991), Barbra Streisand (1992), Michael Jackson (1993), Curtis Mayfield, Frank Sinatra (1994) , Luciano Pavarotti (1998), Elton John (1999). (Source: www.grammy.com).
No more Bee Gees(22/01/2003)
No more Bee Gees. Although just some hours after the death of Maurice Barry and Robin Gibb said the death of Maurice had not caused the end of the Bee Gees (Barry said: "One thing I will tell you is that the Bee Gees will go on. The Bee Gees will not stop here. The Bee Gees will not disintegrate because we've lost Mo.") Robin Gibb told today the UK TV : "Anything Barry and I do we will do together, but it'll be as brothers and not under the name of the Bee Gees. That will be reserved in history as the three of us."
Congenital condition killed Maurice(17/01/2003)
An autopsy report has shown Maurice Gibb died from a congenital condition that caused his small intestine to twist, cutting off the blood supply. Maurice suffered from a condition called a volvulus. It was unclear whether he had been aware of it. His brothers Barry and Robin had been talking to officials at the hospital where their brother died, after expressing their concern over his treatment
Private funeral for Maurice(15/01/2003)
The ceremony - held at Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapel on Miami Beach - was followed by a cremation service. Together with family and close friends, reported to be attending the service were Michael Jackson, Scottish singer Lulu ( who was married to Maurice for four years from 1969), singer Harry Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band).
Maurice Gibb has died(12/01/2003)
Maurice died in the Mount Sinai Medical Centre's intensive care unit about 0045 local time (06.45 GMT+1). Present were brothers Robin and Barry, wife Yvonne, and Maurice's sons, Adam and Samantha. Mo had suffered a heart attack during emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage. We will love and miss him forever.
The Unesco's Pyramide Children Award has been presented to Robin Gibb in Dusseldorf, Germany, on November 8. Robin and, his wife Dwina have contributed to several Unesco's projects over the years. The "Kinder in Not" (Children in Need) Unesco Gala was held in Dusseldorf (Germany) on November 8. It raised 2,035,000 euro. Robin attended the Gala and performed solo and Bee Gees songs. Other guests were Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, Poland's ex-president Lech Walesa, actors Peter Ustinov and Val Kilmer, singer Bonny Tyler.
The Bee Gees have been honoured with the World Artist Award by the World Awards, which honours “men of distinction for their outstanding achievements”. The Grand World Awards Gala has been held in Hamburg on October 22, 2003 and Mikhail Gorbachev presented it. Robin Gibb attended the show and picked up the award on behalf of the Bee Gees.
The ceremony has been broadcasted in several countries (unfortunately not in Italy) all over the world, and reached an audience of 350 million people. The World Artist Award was presented to Paul Mc Cartney in 2001 and to Micheal Jackson in 2002.
This is part of the article from El País, June 17, 2003 (by Diego A Manrique). 
After CBS known anchorman Ed Bradley's eulogy to Maurice Gibb, Barry, Robin and Adam Gibb (Maurice's son) accepted the Legend Grammy Award. "I think this is just a little bit harder than Robin and I imagined it could ever be," said Barry Gibb, who received a standing ovation with his brother when they walked on stage. "It's getting harder." "I think Maurice would have loved this," he added. "We know he's watching - he always watched the Grammys - and tonight he's watching." 
