The Bee Gees in the 70s

Book excerpt: The Bee Gees’ music and image have long been synonymous with the 1970s, and the career trajectory of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb in those ten years meanders between dizzying highs and devastating lows. In 1970, the band was bitterly split after succumbing to the pressures and excesses of their first wave of international fame in the latter part of the 1960s, but by 1979 they were one of the most successful music acts on the planet. In between, the brothers crafted timeless works that defied genre, transcended societal boundaries, and permeated generations of listeners. The Bee Gees would go on to sell over 200 million records, making them among the best-selling music artists of all time; they would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Australian Recording Industry’s Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and receive lifetime achievement awards from the British Phonographic Industry, the American Music Awards, World Music Awards and the Grammys. According to Billboard magazine, the Bee Gees are one of the top three most successful bands in their charts’ history. In the 1970s, The Bee Gees established themselves as innovative and versatile artists, and their songs scored a turbulent decade of global cultural change and discovery.