The last surviving Bee Gees star, Barry Gibb has a unique love story with his beauty queen wife. His marriage of 52 years saved him from his brother’s fate.
He is a spiritual person and prays a lot for his whole family—he knows what really matters after achieving stardom.
Gibb has 5 kids and 7 grandchildren, and some of them are musicians like him!
Barry Gibb is the last surviving brother of the family that made up the pop band, Bee Gees. Gibb was the main songwriter of the trio and was joined by his brothers, Robin and Maurice Gibb, who died in 2003 and 2012, respectively.
Their younger brother Andy Gibb charted a successful solo career in the 1970s. Andy was just 30 when he died of a heart condition made worse by years of drug abuse. His death was the first taste of tragedy for the family.
Following Andy’s death, their father, who doted on him, died a few years later. In 2003, Maurice died at the age of 53 from a twisted intestine, and nine years later in 2012, Robin, then 62, died of cancer.
Gibb, the eldest of the brothers, is the last man standing. Looking back to the early days, Gibb fondly recalls his life with his brothers at the height of their success. He said:
“I still always see the four of us together, it was always brothers battling for attention. I never stop thinking about those days and their characters.”
The songwriter remembers fondly that Robin was always being funny, and that Maurice was the outgoing one of the bunch. When they were together, they would naturally begin writing songs and singing in harmony.
Losing Andy was difficult. The three who were left behind constantly felt off, like something important was missing. After Robin and Maurice passed, Gibb was left devastated. His companions were gone and what was left was the music and the memories.
The Scottish beauty and the Australian singer got married later that year and are together to this day.
The deaths of his brothers made Gibb an overly cautious person. Fixated on the fact that life is fragile, he admits to being terrified of everyday tasks like boiling a kettle or driving at a fast speed. The singer, who is also afraid of fire, avoids any activity that he deems too risky, like riding on a rollercoaster.
The singer has been married to his beauty queen wife, Linda Gray, for 52 years. They met in 1967 at a recording of the music show “Top of the Pops.” The Bee Gees were on hand to perform their hit song “Massachusetts,” while Gray was the hostess of the week. Speaking of the day they met, Gibb said:
“When we first saw each other I thought it was love at first sight. I thought then, ‘That is the woman I am going to spend the rest of my life with.’ It did not matter about show business.”
Gray was also attracted to the tall music star, and the two began seeing each other immediately. However, Gibb was still married to his first wife, Maureen, when he met the ex-Miss Edinburgh. But the marriage was on its last leg, according to the pop star, and it ended in 1970.
The Scottish beauty and the Australian singer got married later that year and are still together to this day. During their marriage, they welcomed five children together: Stephen, 49, Ashley, 45, Travis, 42, Michael, 38, and daughter Alexandra, 31.
The “Stayin’ Alive” singer has said that he believes in himself and his family and that there is a life after this one.
Gibb credits his wife for him surviving the temptations that could have cost him his life. As a global superstar, illicit drugs and casual sex were all readily available to the Bee Gees. Their money and fame afforded them a luxurious, jet-set life where they could get whatever they wanted.
Gibb added that he considered himself “lucky” to have his wife to keep him from going astray. His brothers, on the other hand, were exposed to so much more without the steadying influence of a partner like Gray to bring them to their senses. Of his wife’s tough love, the singer explained:
“My brothers had to deal with their demons but I was married to a lady who wasn’t going to have it. I could bring drugs into the house but they would end up down the toilet. She never allowed me to go in that direction.”
Maurice’s liking for scotch later became an addiction, which prompted him to check into rehab. Robin, on the other hand, developed a dependence on amphetamines that affected his life, and Andy had a cocaine habit that cost him his life.
Another steadying force in Gibb’s life today is his faith. The “Stayin’ Alive” singer has said that he believes in himself and his family and that there is a life after this one. He tries to study all religions without subscribing to a particular one. And he prays fervently for his children and grandchildren.
The musician also explained why he had never met a man he could trust completely. Being in the music industry with his brothers, Gibb experienced instances where one would put personal interests above the good of the whole group.
But living and creating with other people is never simple. It requires compromise to be successful. The Bee Gees went through a season where the brothers could not see eye to eye and they went their separate ways at one point in 1969. The music star said of that time:
“There’s fame and there’s ultra-fame and it can destroy. You lose your perspective, you’re in the eye of a hurricane and you don’t know you’re there. And you don’t know what tomorrow is, you don’t know if what you’re recording will be a hit or not. And we were kids, don’t forget.”
The gifted brothers reunited shortly after, realizing that their strength was in being a trio rather than three solo acts. There is such beauty in harmony and the world was hungry for more of their collaboration. They went on to release songs like “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”
Sadly, Gibb would later experience a breakdown in his relationship with Robin and Maurice on different occasions. He and Maurice were not on speaking terms just before an ill-fated operation took his brother’s life. And Robin also kept his cancer diagnosis from Gibb until it was too late.
The legacy of the Bee Gees lives on through the fans and through the remaining brother’s willingness to continue making music.
But the years have given Gibb the benefit of hindsight to forgive the past and put slights to rest. He participated in a documentary of his life and work for Sky Documentaries named after one of the Bee Gees’ hit songs, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”
The Bee Gees came to an end after Maurice’s death in 2003. Gibb felt that he and Robin couldn’t continue under that name out of respect for their brother.
Robin’s death drew the final curtain under the Bee Gees’ career, leaving a dejected and disoriented Gibb tempted to retire. But he had a change of heart, saying to himself:
“Live in the moment. Grab every moment, because you see what happens.”
The legacy of the Bee Gees lives on through the fans and through the remaining brother’s willingness to continue making music. He resumed touring and writing/creating music, and through his children. Of the five, the three eldest, Steve, Ashley, and Travis, are musicians like their dad.
Steve, who was born in London on December 1, 1973, but raised in Miami, began playing piano at three years old but switched to guitar in his teens. He has been a member of hard rock and metal bands, including 58, Black Label Society, and Crowbar.
The guitarist said that his appetite for addictive substances grew and he moved from drinking alcohol in his teens to taking cocaine.
Ashley was born on September 8, 1977, and Travis on January 10, 1981. The two youngest are also in the media space. Michael, born on December 1, 1984, is an actor. He was named after the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Alexandra was born on December 29, 1991, and is an award-winning newscaster in Canada.
Gibb’s eldest son, Steve, has been open about his struggle with addiction on his recovery podcast “Addiction Talks.” Speaking about the beginning of his downward spiral, he said:
“The first time I drank I was probably 14 and I downed an entire bottle of Jack Daniels [and] blacked out.”
The guitarist said that his appetite for addictive substances grew, and he moved from drinking alcohol in his teens to taking cocaine. His habit robbed him of the life he had worked so hard for and he became homeless at some point.
To make the situation even worse, Steve began scrounging for food in the garbage. Remembering how much food was wasted at the studios, he would make his way to the dumpsters at those establishments, hoping that no one would recognize him.
If being a star has taught him anything, it is the most important thing in life is family.
Unfortunately, Steve had fallen into the same trap as his uncles Maurice, Robin, and Andy. But his father’s prayers were answered because Steve realized that if he continued down that destructive path, he was facing “death, prison or a mental institution.”
Gibb and his wife, Gray, are proud of their son for turning his life around. He is back into music, writing, and playing guitar with his dad. Speaking about his previously sorry state, he said:
“I was living in my van or wherever I could land. If somebody let me crash on a couch I was fortunate. The thing for me that was mind blowing was the old saying, from Park Avenue to park bench.”
Whether he sold over 200 million records or gained professional awards and commendations, Gibb’s focus is on his family. If being a star has taught him anything, it is the most important thing in life is family. He and his wife are also blessed with seven grandchildren so far who bring hope for another generation of Gibbs.
From sharing a meal and talking at a cafe to finding a common passion with his children, Barry Gibb is determined to be present as long as he can. His brothers’ deaths used to fill him with fear and dread, but now, they remind him to spend as much time being creative and loving towards his family.
