When the Bee Gees performed an Andy Gibb song as a tear-jerking tribute to their late brother

24 October 2024, 14:49

It was a tragedy beyond imagination.

Andy Gibb was the youngest brother to the Bee Gees', and a pop idol in his own right during the late seventies.

Luckily, he had access to the greatest pop hit-making machine outside of The Beatles in his older brothers.

At the height of the Bee Gees' disco domination of the charts, Andy himself was a chart hit heavyweight, even knocking his brothers off the top spot in the US.

After he scored his first number one with 'I Just Want To Be Your Everything', his second number one '(Love Is) Thicker Than Water' would knock 'Stayin' Alive' off its perch.

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Following up with a further third number one single 'Shadow Dancing', things couldn't have got any better for Andy. Sadly, they didn't.

With the world at his fingertips, Andy's life was mired by addiction and drug abuse, which curtailed a promising career.

Tragically, he wouldn't overcome his well-documented issues, and eventually died on March 10, 1988, just five days after his 30th birthday.

Nine years later in an incredibly special moment however, his older brothers paid tribute to the late star by performing one of his most beloved hits: '(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away'.

'(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away' featured on Andy's best-selling second album, Shadow Dancing, and was a top ten hit in the US.

It was actually penned by his oldest brother Barry Gibb however, who wrote the song with producer Blue Weaver during the Saturday Night Fever sessions.

The song didn't make the cut for the album, so the band donated it to Andy and re-worked it especially for him as Weaver later recalled:

"When Andy actually went to record it, Barry listened to it [the original version] again and thought, 'Oh, it's not finished', so Barry wrote the whole of the middle-eight."

It worked, scoring teen idol Andy another hit with the soulful soft rock ballad.

Clearly meaning a lot to the brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice performed '(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away' during their 'One Night Only' concert in Las Vegas in 1997.

In an incredibly touching moment, however, Andy returned to duet with him.

Bee Gees - Our Love (Don't Throw It All Away) (Live in Las Vegas, 1997 - One Night Only)

"This is our song for Andy," Barry said to the crowd on the night, before he tenderly begins singing with pictures of Andy as a child beamed on the big screen behind him.

With Barry taking on lead vocal duties during the first verse and chorus, he's flanked by Robin and Maurice who gaze at their big brother admirably.

Just after Mo' finishes the keyboard break in the song, Andy's voice booms through the speakers, a sound only matched by the audience's roar.

It's an incredibly beautiful moment between the Gibbs and their late little brother, accompanying Andy's vocals at some points.

But at other times they sway quietly, simply enjoying the sound of Andy's voice.

Their performance was one of the most memorable tributes the Bee Gees paid to Andy after his death.

Unfortunately, none of the brother's efforts to help Andy during his toils with addiction could halt his tragic demise.

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The day before his death, he complained of suffering from chest pains and was kept overnight in the hospital.

Whilst talking to his doctor, Andy slumped into unconsciousness. He never woke up. Andy was pronounced dead after his heart failed.

Robin was the first of the family to hear of his death, and had to break the news to Barry and Maurice.

"That has to be the saddest, most desperate moment of my life," Robin later recalled.