Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb is awarded Companion Of The Order Of Australia

28 January 2022, 11:51 | Updated: 28 January 2022, 16:39

Companion Of The Order Of Australia is the highest award non-citizens of the country can be honoured with.

And that's precisely what's happened with the Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb who was given the award on Thursday 27th January.

Gibb was named a Companion Of The Order Of Australia alongside five other non-citizens who have received medals for bettering the nation.

• Listen to Barry Gibb's haunting original demo of Barbra Streisand's 'Woman In Love'
• Barry Gibb credits Eric Clapton for changing the Bee Gees' fortunes during the 1970s
• Watch Barry Gibb's poignant tribute to his late brother Robin with 'I Started A Joke'

Gibb has been a dual UK-US citizen since 2009, and the award was conceived to honour non-citizens “where their service has benefited Australia and Australians” in “Australia’s pre-eminent means of recognising service and achievement" Governor-General David Hurley said.

Recipients of the award are recommended by the prime minister before being approved by the governor-general, such is the esteemed nature of the honour.

Barry and his brothers Robin and Maurice, though all British citizens are familiar with Australia themselves having emigrated there from the UK in 1958.

The trio returned in 1967 on their journey to become one of the greatest pop bands the world has ever known.

This isn't the first time the Gibb brothers have been showered with recognition for their pop-cultural achievements in the country, however.

There is a statue of the three on a road named after their band in Redcliffe, Queensland, where they originally resided when moving to Australia.

It was also the location where the Bee Gees first started performing before going on to dominate the global stage.

Barry Gibb was also recognised in Australia for his dedication to charity work and his continued philanthropy, most notably his involvement in the 2009 charity concert which benefitted victims of the Victorian bushfire and Queensland floods where he performed with homegrown icon and his dear friend Olivia Newton-John.

The Bee Gees are also widely credited for supporting and promoting the Australian music industry across the world.

• When Barry Gibb and Olivia Newton-John sang 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart' and it was spectacular
• Relive Andy Gibb, ABBA and Olivia Newton-John's incredible 'jam session' from 1978
• When Barry Gibb led the Bee Gees in singing ‘Grease’ to a moved Olivia Newton-John in the crowd

Closer to home, Barry was also honoured with a special series of stamps produced by the Isle Of Man Post Office in November 2021.

The unique set of stamps were created to celebrate the incredible musical achievements and charitable work of the last remaining Bee Gee.

At the time he found out about being awarded the stamp series, Barry said: "I’m very proud of my Manx roots."

"I was born and bred on the ancient, mystical, magical Isle Of Man, and I have very fond memories of growing up there, so to appear on a set of its stamps is not only a wonderful surprise, but also an honour and a privilege.”