Barry Gibbmight never watch new documentary on legendary group
Staying alive has proved to be a challenge for the last surviving member of the multiplatinumgroupTheBeeGees.
One of the most prominent acts of the disco era, the Grammy Award-winning groupbehindsomeof the best known hits of the late ’70s — such as “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever” — was formed by three siblings: 74-year-old BarryGibb, theoldest, andfraternal twins Robin and Maurice.
With a jaw-dropping nine BillboardHot 100No. 1 singles — including“HowDeepIsYour Love,” whichtoppedthelistfor threeweeks in 1977 and spent 33 weeks in the charts overall — The Bee Gees endured a fierce disco backlash in the early ’80s, but remained relevant in the business until the death ofMaurice, in Jan. 2003 at the age of 53, and Robin who died in May 2012, at the age of 62.
Today, a brand-new documentary about the group is igniting renewed interest in the record-breaking siblings who were often referred to as the “Kings of Disco.”
“The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” which premiered on Dec. 12 HBO Max, is a “gratifying, conventional, heartfelt documentarythattellsthestoryof one of the great pop groups,” according to a review onVariety, which called the film “the enthrallingdocumentary they deserve.”
Butwhile older generations are reliving the magic, and younger viewers are onlynow discovering the falsetto that tookover radiowavesandLPs duringtheheydayofdisco, one personwhomightneverwatch the entire film is the group’s last surviving member.
“Ican’thandlewatchingthe rest of my family,” Gibb said in a new interview that will air on CBS Sunday Morning.
“I just can’t handle it. It’s not, who would, you know? I think it’s perfectly normal to not want to see how each brother was lost, you know?
And I don’t want to address it. I’m past it,” he said.
The oldest Bee Gee added that it’s “incredibly hard” to let go of his younger brothers.
“Because we’d never not beentogether, youknow?”… It wasreallytough. Thefirstyear after the last brother passed, Robin. Thatwas the most difficult period forme,” he said.
Even though peoplewould say he had a nervous breakdownafter his brother Robin died, in 2012, Gibb said that that wasn’t the case — even though he called it “the most difficult period” for him.
“I just didn’tknowwhere to go. I didn’t knowwhat todo… and, I didn’t know how to be perceived. I didn’t knowhow toperceiveotherpeople’sopinions. So, basically, I’ve been in lockdown for years now.”
Gibb, whose new album, “Greenfields,” features versions ofTheBeeGee’shits performed with some of country music’s top stars, added that he plans to tour again, in the post-pandemic world.
“It’s lonely up there when youhaven’tgotyourbrothers,” he said “But you still make it — you still make it fun. That’s what counts.”