Bee Gees

"BGs" redirects here. For other uses, see BG (disambiguation) and BGS (disambiguation).

Bee Gees
The Bee Gees in 1977 (top to bottom): Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb
The Bee Gees in 1977 (top to bottom): Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb
Background information
Also known asBGs (1958–1959)
Genres
DiscographyBee Gees discography
Years active
  • 1958–1969
  • 1970–2003
  • 2006
  • 2009–2012
Labels
Past membersBarry Gibb
Robin Gibb
Maurice Gibb
Vince Melouney
Colin Petersen[2][3]
Geoff Bridgford
Websitebeegees.com

The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies: Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid-to-late 1970s and 1980s. The group wrote all their own original material, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists, and are regarded as one of the most important and influential acts in pop-music history.[4] They have been referred to in the media as The Disco Kings, Britain's First Family of Harmony, and The Kings of Dance Music.[5][6][7]

Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England, until the late 1950s. There, in 1955, they formed the skiffle/rock and roll group the Rattlesnakes. The family then moved to Redcliffe, in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia, and later to Cribb Island. After achieving their first chart successes in Australia as the Bee Gees, they returned to the UK in January 1967, when producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience. The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (1977) was the turning point of their career, with both the film and soundtrack having a cultural impact throughout the world, enhancing the disco scene's mainstream appeal. They won five Grammy Awards for Saturday Night Fever, including Album of the Year.

The Bee Gees have sold over 120 million records worldwide,[8][9][10] placing them among the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the most successful trio in the history of contemporary music.[11] They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997;[12] the Hall's citation says, "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees."[13] With nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the Bee Gees are the third-most successful band in Billboard charts history behind only the Beatles and the Supremes.[14] Following Maurice's sudden death in 2003 aged 53, Barry and Robin retired from the group after 45 years of activity. However, in 2009 Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again.[15] Robin died in 2012, aged 62, and Colin Petersen died in 2024, aged 78, leaving Barry, Vince Melouney, and Geoff Bridgford as the surviving members of the group.[16]

  1. ^ "Soft Rock Music Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Bee Gees – Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "Colin Peterson – Biography & History". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Meagher, John (16 January 2021). "Ten songs that tell the story of the Bee Gees". The Independent.
  5. ^ "The Career of Disco Kings the Bee Gees is Explored in New Documentary". janksreviews.com. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  6. ^ "The Bee Gees | Rhino". www.rhino.com.
  7. ^ "Boogie to the sounds of the disco days during the 'Best of the Bee Gees Weekend'". 19 January 2021.
  8. ^ Maidment, Adam (20 January 2020). "Chorlton building where the Bee Gees first performed faces demolition after bid to save it rejected". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  9. ^ Rolland, David (7 October 2020). "You Might Feel Like Dancing After Seeing The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart". Miami New Times. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Bee Gees | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  11. ^ "The Bee Gees Make the Pop of Ages – idobi Network". idobi.com. 19 November 2001.
  12. ^ "The Bee Gees biography". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 1997. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Inductees: Bee Gees". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 1997. Archived from the original on 16 June 2005. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference rank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Michaels, Sean (8 September 2009). "Bee Gees to re-form for live comeback". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  16. ^ "Robin Gibb, Bee Gees Co-Founder, Dead at 62". Rolling Stone. 20 May 2012.