Tragedy: The Ballad of the Bee Gees

Tragedy: The Ballad of the Bee Gees by Apter, Jeff. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781911036005.

The rise and fall of the brothers Gibb--Barry, Robin, Maurice, and younger brother Andy--is perhaps the greatest saga in Australian music history. Although the Bee Gees enjoyed several rebirths in a career that spanned many decades, it seemed that tragedy followed the Gibbs like a curse. For every incredible career high there was a hefty personal downside: divorce, drunkenness, and death seemed as synonymous with the Gibbs as falsetto harmonies, flares, and multi-platinum record sales. Not long before his death, Robin made it clear that he believed the Gibbs had been forced to pay the highest possible cost for their success. "All the tragedies my family has suffered . . . is a kind of karmic price we are paying for all the fame and fortune weve had." This is the story of the brothers incredible careers and an examination of the Gibb curse--an all-too-human look at the rollercoaster ride of fame.