Let me admit right up front that I’m a sucker for the Bee Gees.  They grew in popularity during my preteen and high school years and the first album of theirs I bought was Children of the World, released in September 1976.  Who can blame a 15-year-old for going ga-ga at the sight of Barry in tight white (or any color, for that matter) pants?  And they sang good too.  From the Saturday Night Fever hits and beyond, I was smitten.

Children of the World album cover (Robin, Barry, Maurice)

The brothers were born in the Isle of Man to British parents, and the family re-located to Queensland, Australia in the 1950s.  The band's first U.S. hit was "A New York Mining Disaster 1941," written by Barry and Robin Gibb and released in the U.S. in 1967.  I was too young to appreciate the song at the time, but now I do.

 "New York Mining Disaster 1941"

In the event of something happening to me,
there is something I would like you all to see.
It's just a photograph of someone that I new.

Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud, you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones.

I keep straining my ears to hear a sound.
Maybe someone is digging underground,
or have they given up and all gone home to bed,
thinking those who once existed must be dead.

Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud, you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones.

In the event of something happening to me,
there is something I would like you all to see.
It's just a photograph of someone that I knew.

Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud, you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones.

Aside from their musical success, Fate has dealt the Brothers Gibb a cruel hand.  The youngest brother, Andy, died at age 30 from an inflammation of the heart caused by a virus, not drug abuse, as had been initially suspected.  Then Robin’s twin brother Maurice died at age 53 from complications resulting from a twisted intestine.  In October 2010, Robin revealed that he was suffering from colon cancer, which eventually spread to his liver.  That same year he underwent surgery to treat a twisted bowel, a congenital condition that killed his twin brother in 2003.

Despite his poor health, Robin completed his first classical symphony, “The Titanic Requiem,” with his son Robin-John, to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the disaster.  The concert premiered on April 10, but Gibb was too ill to attend.

Gibb is said to keep an antique journal at his bedside in which he writes lyrics and other ideas.  He expressed a desire to set up a children’s charity involving music and was working on a “bucket list” before he slipped into a coma after contracting pneumonia.

"I sometimes wonder if all the tragedies my family has suffered, like Andy and Maurice dying so young and everything that’s happened to me recently, is kind of a karmic price we are paying for all the fame and fortune we've had,” Robin told The Sun in March of this year.

He added, “But we’ve worked hard for everything we’ve achieved. I am not and never have been at death’s door. But 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.”

A celebrity with a heart--my kind of guy.

Here’s wishing him and his family well during this difficult time.