By Aaron Goldstein on 5.20.12 @ 10:05PM
Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees has passed away after a long battle with colorectal, liver and pancreatic cancer. He was 62.
Gibb's death marks the second notable passing from The Disco Era in the past 72 hours. On Thursday, Donna Summer passed away of lung cancer at the age of 63.
While The Bee Gees are synonymous with disco with their songs from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack ("Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever" and "You Should Be Dancing") they had a long string of hits from the late 1960s and early 1970s ("Massachusetts", "I Started a Joke" and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" - all of which featured Robin on lead vocal).
Aside from a brief two year stint as a solo artist, The Bee Gees remained together through good times and bad for more than 40 years until the death of Robin's fraternal twin Maurice in 2003. It would be more than five years after Maurice's death before Robin and older brother Barry would perform together in public.
In a cruel twist of fate, Robin would suffered from a blocked intestine (the same condition which killed Maurice). Robin underwent surgery back in March but subsequently went into a coma for a week but came out of it. Unfortunately, Robin's health prevented him from missing The Titanic Requiem which he co-wrote with his son Robin-John.
Barry Gibb is now only surviving member of The Bee Gees. Prior to the deaths of Maurice and Robin, Andy Gibb (the youngest brother) died of a heart ailment brought on by drug abuse at the age of 30 in 1988.
I'll leave you with Robin Gibb talking to Leo Sayer about his fascination with British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel who designed, amongst other things, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.
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