Bee Gees star Robin Gibb dies

UK: Robin Gibb, singer with the legendary British band the Bee Gees, died on Sunday aged 62 after a lengthy battle against cancer, his family said. “The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery,” said a family statement.

Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb scaled the heights of the pop world in the 1970s with disco hits including “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin' Alive”, and “Night Fever”.

The band notched up record sales of more than 200 million since their first hits in the 1960s.

Gibb underwent bowel surgery 18 months ago for an unrelated condition but a tumour was found and he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and the liver.

Back in February, Gibb said he had made a “spectacular” recovery from his treatment, sparking hopes that his cancer was in remission, but recently experienced a sharp deterioration.

The singer fell into a coma last month after contracting pneumonia, but had raised hopes of survival after making another recovery.

Fellow musicians took to microblogging website Twitter to pay their respects.

Canadian rocker Bryan Adams wrote: “Robin Gibb RIP. Very sad to hear about yet another great singer dying too young.” Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall called Gibb a “musical giant” while eighties stars Duran Duran passed on their condolences to his family.

AFP