Robin Gibb Passes Away

The Bee Gee and composer of the recent Titanic Requiem lost his battle with cancer yesterday (May 20).

As one third of the Bee Gees, with brothers Maurice and Barry, Gibb had sold more than 200 million records. Arguably most famous for their success at the height of the 70s disco boom, the brothers’ songwriting prowess saw hits spanning decades and in many countries around the world.

Most recently, Robin composed The Titanic Requiem with his son Robin-John Gibb. A classical composition to commemorate the centenary of the Titanic’s sinking, it allowed the pair to finally indulge their love of classical music.

“It’s an ambitious project but musically it's not a big departure for me”, said Robin in a recent interview. “If you took the voices off a lot of Bee Gees recordings you will hear a classical orchestra playing classical arrangements, and we wrote those arrangements ourselves. I was just continuing what I was always doing”.

18 months ago, doctors performed surgery on Gibb’s bowel cancer, a condition which claimed the life of his twin brother Maurice in 2003. His deteriorating condition eventually became fatal, with his family releasing last night’s statement:

“The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time”.