Greater Manchester born Barbara Gibb, mother of the Bee Gees has died at the age of ninety five.
Barbara who married married Hugh Gibb, a bandleader for the Hughie Gibb Orchestra in Manchester in 1944 and sang with the band,went on to have five children together; Barry, twins Robin and Maurice, Andy and daughter Lesley.
Although the boys Barry, Robin and Maurice were born on the Isle of Man, they lived for a while in Chorlton Cum Hardy where they attended Oswald Roaf Primary School where they began to sing in harmony .
One story says that, as with other children their age, they had to lip sync to a record at their local theatre but the record broke. The boys had to sing live and received such a positive response that they decided to pursue a music career.
The family emigrated to Australia in the 1950’s.
Barbara and Hugh managed their children’s band in the early days.
Her later life saw much tragedy, seeing the deaths of three of her five children. Andy, in 1988 aged 30 from the heart condition myocarditis, Maurice unexpectedly in 2003 at the age of 53 due to complications from a twisted intestine, and his twin Robin died in 2012 aged 62 from liver and kidney failure after battling cancer.
Her husband Hugh died in 1992 at the age of 76.
