Andy Gibb

Andrew Roy Gibb was born on 5 March 1958 at Stretford Memorial Hospital in Stretford, Lancashire, England, the youngest of five children born to Barbara and Hugh Gibb. His siblings included his sister Lesley and three brothers — Barry and fraternal twins Robin and Maurice, who would achieve international fame as the Bee Gees. When Gibb was six months old, his family emigrated to Queensland, Australia, settling eventually on Cribb Island, a former suburb of Brisbane. The family relocated multiple times between Brisbane and Sydney before returning to the United Kingdom in January 1967 as his older brothers began their rise to global prominence.

Gibb dropped out of school at thirteen and, with an acoustic guitar given to him by his brother Barry, began performing at tourist clubs in Ibiza, Spain, where his parents had moved, and later on the Isle of Man. In August 1973, at fifteen, he made his first recordings at Nova Sound Studios in London, cutting two songs: "Windows of My World" and "My Father's a Rebel," the latter written and produced by his brother Maurice. The following June, Gibb formed his first group, Melody Fayre, named after a Bee Gees song, which included Isle of Man musicians John Alderson on guitar, Stan Hughes on bass, and John Stringer on drums. The group was managed by his mother, Barbara, and performed regularly on the island's hotel circuit.

At Barry's urging, Gibb returned to Australia in 1974, where producer Col Joye oversaw a series of recording sessions. Gibb later joined the band Zenta, which supported international acts including Sweet and the Bay City Rollers on the Sydney leg of their Australian tours. His debut single, "Words and Music," was released on Col Joye's ATA label in Australia and New Zealand, reaching number 78 in Australia and number 29 in New Zealand. Gibb performed the song on the Australian television program Countdown on 7 September 1975.

On 11 July 1976, Gibb married Kim Reeder at the Wayside Chapel in Seven Hills, an outer Sydney suburb. Robert Stigwood, then manager of the Bee Gees, signed Gibb to RSO Records in early 1976 after hearing his demo tapes. Gibb subsequently moved to Miami Beach, where he worked with his brother Barry and co-producers Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson at Criteria Studios on his debut album, Flowing Rivers, released in 1977. That album produced three consecutive number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 — "I Just Want to Be Your Everything," "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water," and "Shadow Dancing" — making Gibb the first solo artist to have his first three singles reach the top position on that chart. "Shadow Dancing" also topped charts internationally and became his signature song. His daughter Peta was born on 25 January 1978, and Gibb and Reeder divorced later that year.

His subsequent albums, Shadow Dancing (1978) and After Dark (1980), extended his commercial success. In the early 1980s, Gibb broadened his career into theater and television. He co-hosted the music program Solid Gold from 1981 to 1982 and made his Broadway debut in 1981, starring in The Pirates of Penzance. He returned to Broadway in 1982, appearing in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His Broadway career spanned the years 1981 to 1982. During this period, however, substance abuse and depression disrupted his professional trajectory and led to declining commercial success.

Gibb died on 10 March 1988, five days after his thirtieth birthday, from myocarditis exacerbated by years of drug use.