British singer/songwriter Barry Gibb was born 77 years ago as Barry Alan Crompton Gibb in Douglas, Isle of Man, is married and has 5 children. He is also a record producer and musician and is best known for his falsetto voice and as one of the members of the famous brothers trio ‘The Bee Gees’.
A few days after turning 5, Barry started going to school and 4 years later at just 9 years old, he formed the group ‘The Rattlesnakes’ together with his twin brothers Andy and Maurice and another 2 friends. They used to play songs by famous artists like The Everly Brothers, Cliff Richard and Paul Anka and also performed frequently in a talent show. Meanwhile, they changed the band’s name after the 2 friends left the group.
In 1958, Barry emigrated to Australia together with his family and the band’s name was changed once more to ‘Bee Gees’. They continued to give performances in clubs and hotels whilst Barry composed the group’s songs and their debut album was released in 1965.
The Gibbs returned to the UK 2 years later and by the end of that decade released 5 more albums. By this time the band had become internationally famous and a lot of tension arose between the brothers, so much so that Barry left the group and embarked on a solo career in the early 70s. After a few months, however, he reunited with his brothers and more albums were issued.
As ‘Bee Gees’, the band had 43 albums and 83 singles. Some of the most famous tracks include ‘To Love Somebody’, ‘Massachusetts’, ‘Words’, ‘Jive Talking’, ‘You should be Dancing’, ‘How deep is your Love’, ‘Stayin’ Alive’, ‘Night Fever’, ‘Too much Heaven’, ‘Tragedy’, ‘You Win Again’ and ‘For whom the bell Tolls’.
As a solo artist, Gibb had 3 studio albums and 14 singles. Some of the songs he composed peaked to number 1 in 5 consecutive decades between the 60s and the 00s. Moreover, many tracks written by him, both for ‘Bee Gees’ as well as for himself, were covered by numerous other artists.
In 2002, together with his brothers, Barry was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 2018 was given the title of Knight Bachelor, plus other honours.
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