Bee Gees

The Bee Gees may be associated with the shimmering disco grooves and stratospheric falsetto of Saturday Night Fever, but the band scored hits in four decades with substance and style, reinventing themselves through setbacks and comebacks marked by graceful harmonies and impeccable songcraft. Born to a musical family in northern England, Barry Gibb and his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin and Maurice, spent their teen years in Australia before returning in 1967 to ride the Beatlemania wave, positioning themselves as adventurous psych-pop explorers on a string of sweet, melancholy hits. The early phase peaked with the 1969 double LP Odessa, a kaleidoscopic mix of progressive rock, soul and country; after a brief hiatus that saw a solo release from Robin, the brothers arrived at the soulful, hi-fidelity pop that perfectly suited their musical gifts. With the simmering 1974 album Mr. Natural and strutting R&B of 1975’s Main Course, the Bee Gees were no longer adapting to musical trends—they were defining them. Their thoughtful songwriting added emotional depth to the effervescent disco craze, while songs like “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive” were filled with the opulent energy and luxurious hedonism that defined the decade. Those tracks were both on the monumental 1977 soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, which took disco’s four-on-the-floor pulse—once a cult soundtrack to the underground club scene—and thrust it into the global mainstream. After the twinkling lights of the disco faded, the trio released a suite of albums through the ’80s and ’90s with mature, soulful pop that appealed to audiences who had hung up their bell bottoms. Their collaboration continued until Maurice’s death in 2003 and Robin’s in 2012. After decades of reinvention, the Brothers Gibb left behind a catalogue that glimmers with an enduring disco-ball sparkle.