Bee Gees

The Bee Gees proved extraordinarily adept at a vast array of musical styles, from American-influenced pop-rock to blue-eyed soul, psychedelia, and most famously, funk and disco anthems for the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, all of which yielded countless hits over the course of a four-decade career. They were three of five siblings born on the Isle of Man to English parents who raised them in their father's hometown, a suburb of Manchester called Chortlon-cum-Hardy. There, Barry (born September 1, 1946) and fraternal twins Robin and Maurice (born December 22, 1949) formed their first group, a skiffle act called the Rattlesnakes, while still in their pre-teen years. Public response to their pristine harmonies inspired the brothers to pursue a career in music, which began in earnest after the family moved to Queensland, Australia, in 1958. Now called the Bee Gees, they began recording original material, influenced by American acts like the Everly Brothers and written by Barry for Leedon Records. However, these early tracks were only moderately successful, and the siblings returned to England, where they signed with manager Robert Stigwood's agency. In 1967, they released "To Love Somebody," the first in a series of soulful, pop-psychedelic ballads that reached the Top 20 and beyond in both England and America. The Bee Gees soon took greater control of their music, producing as well as writing sweeping pop numbers like "Massachusetts" and "I've Gotta Get a Message to You," both of which earned Top 20 status on both sides of the Atlantic. But the strain of touring and recording soon took its toll; after completing the epic double album Odessa in 1969, Robin, who sang the majority of lead vocals on their songs, left the act over perceived concerns that Stigwood was favoring Barry as the group's frontman. The rift forced a brief breakup that was resolved by the following year, but their fortunes continued to waver; after scoring their first chart-topping U.S. hit with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" in 1970, the Bee Gees' subsequent material failed to generate much success. Seeking to redefine themselves, the Bee Gees took the advice of Eric Clapton, who had himself emerged from a long creative fallow period, and Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun and collaborated with famed soul producer Arif Mardin. The result was a sonic shift towards American soul and funk, anchored by Barry Gibb's soaring falsetto voice, which produced such hit disco anthems as "Jive Talkin'," "You Should Be Dancing" and "Nights on Broadway." The inclusion of three new Bee Gees numbers on the Grammy-winning soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) - "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever" and "How Deep Is Your Love," all of which went to No. 1 on the U.S. charts - cemented the group's superstar status, albeit for a brief period. By the end of the 1970s, disco had faded, and along with it, the Bee Gees' recording careers; the brothers instead focused on songwriting, where they scored major hits for Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers and Diana Ross. In the mid-1980s, the brothers slowly began rebuilding their recording careers; a slew of albums in the mid- to late-'80s generated major hits in the UK and abroad, but success in America would elude them until 1997's Still Waters, which reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200. At the height of this resurgence, the Bee Gees were nearly derailed by a host of personal issues, including Barry's crippling alcoholism and Maurice's struggle with addiction, but the siblings not only forged on but continued to succeed, scoring a Top 20 U.S. and UK album with This Is Where I Came In (2001). The record would be their last as a trio: Maurice died two years later from a heart attack, leaving Barry and Robin to continue both as a duo and independently until 2011, when colorectal cancer contributed to Robin's death a year later. His passing brought to a close one of the world's most successful and diverse musical acts.