Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE, is a British singer and songwriter who was born December 22, 1949, in Douglas, Isle of Man to English parents. He was the twin brother of Maurice Gibb (1949-2003) and a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees.|Son of Hugh and Barbara Gibb, he grew up with his two brothers in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England until the Gibbs moved to Brisbane, Australia in 1958. They settled in one of the city’s poorest suburbs, Cribb Island, which was subsequently obliterated to make way for Brisbane Airport. He is currently living in Thame, Oxfordshire, England.|
Solo career|Traditionally, Robin’s role in the group has been one of singer, for which he vied constantly with his elder brother Barry Gibb during the group’s first period of British success in the late 1960s. This eventually resulted in Robin leaving the group to begin a solo career. Meanwhile, there were rumours of drug problems, and his parents threatened to have him made a ward of court (the UK age of consent at that time being 21, and Robin only 19).|Although initially successful, with a number 2 hit, Saved by the Bell, his album, “Robin’s Reign”, was less successful and he found that being a solo artist was less than satisfying. He returned to the group and mended the breach with his family. During the 1980s, he released three further solo albums (“How Old Are You”, “Secret Agent”, and “Walls Have Eyes”) which were more successful in Continental Europe than in the UK or USA. However, his 1984 single “Boys Do Fall in Love” did reach the Billboard top 40|Robin’s next solo album, Magnet, was released in Germany on January 27, 2003 (Label: SPV), and worldwide shortly afterwards. It features the old Bee Gees classic Wish You Were Here in a new acoustic version.
In August 2003, Robin announced that he would be releasing a new single of My Lover’s Prayer, a song first recorded by the Bee Gees in 1997, with vocals by Robin, Wanya Morris, and Lance Bass. This was played on radio, but was never actually released. In October 2003 another version was recorded as a duet with Alistair Griffin, runner-up in the UK television program Fame Academy, on which Robin had appeared as a judge.|My Lover’s Prayer, credited as “Alistair Griffin feat. Robin Gibb”, was eventually released in the UK in January 2004 as a double A side single, together with Griffin’s solo recording of Bring It On. It reached number 5 in the UK charts. The duet was also on Griffin’s debut album Bring It On which charted at number 12.|In late 2004, Robin embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia, with Alistair Griffin as the opening act. On his return he released a CD and DVD of live recordings from the German leg of the tour, backed by the Frankfurt Neue Philharmonic Orchestra. A further solo tour of Latin America followed in 2005.|In June 2005 he joined X Factor runners up G4 at a sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, singing the Bee Gees song First of May . A recording of this performance was released in December 2005 as part of a double A side single, credited as “G4 feat Robin Gibb” together with G4’s own cover of Johnny Mathis’ When a Child is Born. This track was also included on the platinum selling album G4 & Friends which reached number 6 in the UK album charts.|In March 2006 he announced plans for more solo concerts in Shanghai and Portugal. On May 20th. 2006, Robin took part in the Prince’s Trust 30th Birthday Concert at the Tower of London along with his brother Barry. They sang 3 songs; Jive Talkin; To Love Somebody and You Should be Dancing. |
