Maurice Gibb (Deceased) Just one of four Gibb brothers born to English parents, Hugh and Barbara Gibb, in Douglas, on the Isle of Man, a small island located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles who’s Head of State is Queen Elizabeth II. Maurice was born on December 22nd 1949 a fraternal twin to Robin Gibb, and youngest by twenty five minutes. The parents Gibb, had a family of all boys, all of whom would make their musical mark on the world, Barry, the eldest, twins Robin and Maurice and youngest son Andy Gibb. The family moved to England in the early 1950’s, the birth home of their parents, where the three eldest boys began singing in harmony together on stage, debuting at the local Gaumont cinema in Chorlton cum Hardy, Manchester. The response to the performances was so good that they decided to make music and singing their career. Maurice grew up in Chorlton cum Hardy until 1958 when his parents moved the family to Australia where they settled in a suburb of Brisbane, Cribb Island.
Once in Brisbane, Maurice banded together with Robin and Barry to form the group who would become world renowned as The Bee Gees. In the early days Maurice sang harmonies with Robin to Barry’s main vocals. As time went on Maurice became a much more integral part of the group when his song writing and musical capabilities began to develop. In 1967 the family moved home to England and The Bee Gees signed a contract with Robert Stigwood which was their first move to becoming one of the most successful musical groups of the 1960’s, 1970’s and the 1980’s. Their musical career was destined to last five decades and together they would sell more than 180 million records. Maurice’s musical input into the group encompassed both singing and instrumental expertise and he sang harmony and backing vocals and played several instruments including, lead guitar, keyboards, piano, bass and rhythm guitar. Maurice’s contribution to the music of the Bee Gees was mainly melody while his two brothers were more responsible for the lyrics of their songs. Maurice’s personality was often relied upon as a stabilizing influence in the group. His vocals were only usually found on one track on each album. In 1969 Maurice married another up and coming British pop star, Lulu, but their marriage was short lived and they divorced in 1973, never having had children.
During the high time of the Bee Gees’ career Maurice also made his stage debut in a West End musical called “Sing a Rude Song” but the show was short lived. In the 1980’s Maurice also lent his musical skills to work on the solo careers of his two brothers, Barry and Robin after he had recorded his own solo album in 1970, which he never actually released. In 1986 he produced and co-wrote an entire album for Swedish singer Carola. Of these and other projects the only disks released under his own name were two singles: "Railroad" in 1970 and "Hold Her in Your Hand" in 1984. Maurice and the other members of the Bee Gees’ next big venture was in creating the soundtrack for the hit 1976 movie, “Saturday Night Fever” starring John Travolta. From that film, three Bee Gees singles "How Deep Is Your Love", "Stayin' Alive", and "Night Fever" reached number one in the United States and in most countries around the world, launching the most popular period of the disco era. On October 17th 1975 Maurice married his second wife, Yvonne, with whom he had a son, Adam and a daughter, Samantha who inherited her father’s love of the music industry. During the disco years of the Bee Gees success, Maurice developed an addiction for alcohol and credited Yvonne with his successful battle against it. Tragedy struck the family in 1988 when Maurice’s youngest brother Andy, who had also battled drug and alcohol abuse for years was visiting England, while there he was taken ill and died on March 10th of myocarditis brought on by years of alcohol and cocaine abuse. Totally unexpectedly, fifteen years later at the age of 53 Maurice Gibb died at a Miami Beach, Florida, hospital on 12 January 2003, of a heart attack. Following his death, his surviving brothers Barry and Robin announced that they would no longer perform as the Bee Gees. Maurice's last great project before his sudden death was to produce an album's worth of songs written and sung by his daughter Samantha. The album finally appeared in 2005 under the name M E G -- Maurice's initials. ABB | 
