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It started with three brothers brimming with talent, who dropped out of school and began performing in Manchester’s theatres in the late 1950s. Within a decade, the skiffle group founded by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb became a cultural sensation reminiscent of the Beatles before them. With over 120 million records sold worldwide, the Bee Gees solidified their legacy as one of the most influential musical groups ever to take the stage.
At the time, excessive use of mind-altering substances was almost a prerequisite for being a rockstar. The more popular the three brothers got, the more their reliance on drugs and alcohol to cope with the pressures of fame grew. Let’s take a closer look at the impact of drug use in their lives….
Background and Rise to Fame
Early Days of the Bee Gees
Originally named ‘The Rattlesnakes,” the Bee Gees was founded in 1958 by three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. Born on the Isle of Man, Barry in 1946 and fraternal twins Robin and Maurice in December 1949, the family moved to Manchester, England, where younger brother Andy was born, and later settled in Brisbane, Australia.
At the start of their careers, the brothers performed in local theatres in Manchester. They later changed their name to the Bee Gees while living in Queensland, Australia.
Early Struggles and Breakthrough Success
After signing their first record deal in 1963, their debut single, “The Battle of the Blue and the Grey,” was released. Subsequent songs included “Claustrophobia,” “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” and “Massachusetts,’ which reached No. 1 in the UK in 1967.
By 1977, Robin had already attempted a solo career, which wasn’t as successful as he had hoped. The brothers reunited. At this time, it was well into the disco era of the 1970s, and the Bee Gees took advantage.
That was the year their manager asked them if they would record songs for a soundtrack for a disco movie he was producing. The result changed pop music history forever. The album? The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Saturday Night Fever sold 15 million copies that year and won a Grammy for “Album of the Year.” “Looking back, it was an incredible experience,” Barry said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “But it made us all a bit crazy. It got to a point where we couldn’t breathe. I remember death threats. Crazy fans driving past the house, playing ‘Stayin’ Alive’ at 120 decibels. I really like privacy. I’m just not that good with whatever fame is.”
For their next album, the Bee Gees set up a 41-date tour. “We did three nights at Madison Square Garden, and one of those nights we never went to bed,” Gibb recounts. “To this day, I can’t figure out how we did it. Youth, I guess.”
Drugs are a possibility, too — the Gibbs, like most rockstars at the time, have long been fond of substances.
According to Barry: “The best time in our lives was the time right before fame,” he says. “We could not have been tighter. We were glued together. The following year is when excesses started coming in. Drink, pills. The scene, egos.”
When Drugs and Music Go Hand-in-Hand
The Gibb brothers’ substance abuse struggles were far from unique. During the flower-power era of the 1960s and 1970s, the popularity of psychedelic drugs soared. LSD, magic mushrooms, and other hallucinogens were ever-present at Music festivals, with many people viewing drugs as a necessity for artistic inspiration. The era was also responsible for coining iconic mottos like: “Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll” or “live fast, die young.”
Substance Use in the Music Industry
Musicians seem especially vulnerable to substance abuse issues. Surveys found that 45 percent of UK-based artists struggled with addiction, while 62 percent of rock star autobiographies feature admissions of substance abuse.
The music industry in the Bee Gees era was rife with drug experimentation. For example, Atlantic Records, the label that represented the Bee Gees in the U.S. during the 70s, was known to supply its artists with cannabis and cocaine.
Unsurprisingly, rumors swirled about the Bee Gees’ alleged drug use. Public perception painted them as carefree pop icons, but behind the scenes, all three brothers spent years experimenting with substances.
The Bee Gees Drug Use: Speculation vs. Reality
Though media outlets speculated about their private lives, much of the truth stayed hidden. In one interview, Barry admits to having written at least some of the group’s greatest hits while under the influence: “Yes, there was a half-day when we wrote ‘Too Much Heaven,’ ‘Tragedy,’ and ‘Shadow Dancing’ and a couple of other songs in one afternoon. I think we were high. Amphetamines, nothing heavy.”
According to Frank Cascio’s My Friend Michael, Barry had told his good friend, Michael Jackson, about the creative juices that cannabis can awaken. The book claims that Barry wrote most of the Bee Gees’ greatest hits while under the influence. It’s even rumored that the two musicians would drive through the mountains near Neverland Ranch and get high together.
Personal Stories of the Gibb Brothers
“It was the flower-power period. There wasn’t anybody you knew that wasn’t on some form of drugs,” Barry Gibb said in the VH1 documentary Legends: Bee Gees. His brother, Maurice, added, “Actually, what it was at one time was Barry would be smoking pot, Robin was on pills and I would be drinking.”
As a result, the brothers nicknamed themselves “Pot, Pills and Piss” for their substances of choice.
Barry Gibb
As the last surviving Bee Gees member, Barry has given multiple interviews describing drug use while writing the group’s iconic songs. In one documentary, he says that he and his brothers relied on substances for much of their careers: “We were not really that good at anything without a pill or without a drink. It was destroying us.” per the Sun.
Despite his substance abuse during the height of Bee Gees’ popularity, Barry was always perceived as the more serious member of the group. According to Barry, it was his wife who stopped his substance abuse issue from becoming too problematic, “I could bring drugs into the house, but they would end up down the toilet. Linda never allowed me to go in that direction. I had to deal with my brothers being pretty much out there, but I was lucky,” he explained in an Irish Times interview.
Nowadays, Barry claims to have relented all vices apart from the occasional sake.
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Gibb had a prolonged struggle with alcohol addiction, and it often affected his relationships. In 1969, Maurice wed another pop star, Lulu, but the marriage didn’t last long as his partying lifestyle strained their relationship.
It’s been said that John Lennon introduced him to his favorite drink, scotch and coke. “If he had given me cyanide, I would have drunk the cyanide. I was so in awe of the man.”
It eventually got to the point where Maurice was unreliable, and in the late 1970s, he would have to feel his way along the wall just to find his way to the stage.
Maurice’s Journey to Recovery
Maurice later entered rehab but relapsed briefly when his younger brother Andy Gibb died in 1988 at the age of 30. Andy suffered from his own addiction to cocaine, which ultimately derailed his career and eventually contributed to his premature death.
Broken up over the death of his youngest brother, Maurice turned to the booze again. In 1991, Maurice threatened his second wife, Yvonne, and their two children with a gun, which eventually prompted Maurice to recommit himself to getting sober. He remained sober for the rest of his life. Maurice Gibb died of a heart attack in 2003 while awaiting surgery for an intestinal blockage.
Robin Gibb
Robin has admitted in interviews that he neglected his marriage to Molly Hullis and took refuge in amphetamines. “I took the pills to stay up all night and make records. You had to work through the night because studio time was expensive. I never took serious drugs like LSD or cocaine — I was scared stiff of them,” Robin says. “And I never stayed up all night for reasons of fun, it was always for work.”
Drug use affected his relationship with his first wife and kids. After a messy divorce, Molly was granted custody of the couple’s two kids and forbade him to see them because of his instability and drug addiction.
Robin described those years immediately after his divorce as the most challenging times of his life: “You can achieve great things in life professionally, but if your children are being kept away from you, you feel empty. I had some of my blackest moments during those lost years.”
Unlike his brother Maurice, Brian never entered rehab. However, he did turn to sobriety after meeting his second wife, Dwina Murphy.
The star tragically lost his battle with colon cancer in 2012.
Creativity and Addiction
Stardom and substance use intersect more often than not. The Bee Gees may have been the brightest stars of their era, but it didn’t make them immune to addiction. The trio’s music inspired generations of artists; there’s no denying they are legends in their field. However, we should also acknowledge that immense success may have contributed to their struggles with addiction, an issue still affecting artists today.
While substance abuse and addiction are not problems unique to celebrities or musicians, these individuals often have the means to prolong the spiral. They live a particular lifestyle of excess, and with that comes access to substances.
When You Should Seek Help
The Bee Gees were icons on stage, but they were also people fighting their own battles with substance abuse. If you find parts of their story relatable, you’re not alone. Get in touch with FHE Health today and learn more about our drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
