MIAMI — Maurice Gibb, whose mastery of popular music for more than four decades and whose contribution to contemporary standards such as “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep Is Your Love”and “Massachusetts” proved indelible, lost his fight for life at 1 a.m. Sunday.
The 53-year-old musician and member of the Bee Gees — with twin Robin Gibb and brother Barry, 55 — died at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach.
“To our extended family, friends and fans, it is with great sadness and sorrow that we regretfully announce the passing of Maurice Gibb,” Gibb’s family said in a statement. “His love and enthusiasm and energy for life remain an inspiration to all of us. We will all deeply miss him.”
Gibb, who sang and played keyboards and bass for the Bee Gees, had emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage Thursday. The hospital reported that before his surgery he suffered cardiac arrest.
“There were no clues that this was going on; it’s devastating,” Bee Gees recording engineer John Merchant said Sunday morning from the brothers’ Miami Beach recording studio, Middle Ear.
There are more than 500 cover versions of the Bee Gees’ songs in existence, the brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and they have won seven Grammy awards.
Though Gibb’s bass-playing gave “Stayin’ Alive” its propulsive and unforgettable lift — try to imagine that immortal opening shot of John Travolta walking down the street at the beginning of the Saturday Night Fever film without that beat — Gibb made an impact when he sang lead, too, as on “Man in the Middle” from 2001’s “This Is Where I Came In,” the Bee Gees’ last CD.
“It’s really about me in the middle of everything that I’ve done in my life. I just made it more romantic,” Gibb said in an interview with The Herald in April 2001. “Someone once called me the engine. Each one of us fell into a role as we grew up. … I always thought we were triplets, but something happened to Barry — he sort of sprang up real quick! So we’ve gone through life doing everything
together.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.
— Howard Cohen, Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
