GRAMMY Rewind: Bee Gees’ Robin & Barry Gibb Pay Tribute To Late Brother Maurice As They Accept The GRAMMY Legend Award In 2003
Revisit Robin and Barry Gibb’s emotional speech in honor of their late brother and Bee Gees bandmate Maurice in this episode of GRAMMY Rewind.
Emotions were running high at the 45th GRAMMY Awards in 2003, when Bee Gees bandmates and brothers Robin and Barry Gibb took the stage to accept the band’s GRAMMY Legend Award. It was a bittersweet moment, as one-third of their sibling trio, Maurice Gibb, had died at the age of 53 just weeks before the ceremony.
In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, revisit that unforgettable moment. Robin and Barry were near speechless as they took the stage, taking a moment to thank boy band *NSYNC, who performed a medley of Bee Gees hits as a tribute earlier in the ceremony.
But foremost on the bandmates’ minds was family. They quickly turned the spotlight onto their late brother and those closest to him, including his widow Yvonne and children Adam and Samantha, who were in the audience.
“The measure of a man is his family — we think, anyway — and so we want you to meet Maurice’s family,” Barry told the audience, before asking Maurice’s family members to stand. “I think your dad would have loved this. We know he’s watching.
He always watched the GRAMMYs, and tonight he’s watching. And I think the nicest thing that could happen is if his son came up and took this award, so we’re giving him ours.”
He then called Adam to the stage, who offered his own brief tribute to his late, legendary father. “I know how much my dad loved doing what he did, and he’d love being here right now,” he said. “I know he’d wanna thank one person, and that’s my mom, because she was his rock.”
It was an emotional moment for the entire family. Yvonne and Samantha were misty-eyed as they watched from their seats, while Barry also held back tears as he stood behind his nephew on the stage.
The Legend Award marked a major milestone for the Bee Gees, and put them in rare company: Only 14 other artists have received the GRAMMY Legend Award, including Elton John, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson. Throughout their career, the Bee Gees won five GRAMMYs and received nine GRAMMY nominations overall.
one,” where the first downbeat is emphasized, instead of the typical second and fourth beats in pop, soul and other styles.
As David Cheal eloquently explains, playing on the one “left space for phrases and riffs, often syncopated around the beat, creating an intricate, interlocking grid which could go on and on.” You know a funky bassline when you hear it; its fat chords beg your body to get up and groove.
