The youngest Gibb brother, with a debut run no solo act had managed

Andrew Roy Gibb was born in Stretford, Lancashire, in 1958, the youngest of five children. At six months old his family moved to Queensland, Australia, and they returned to the United Kingdom in January 1967 as his three older brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice, began to find international fame as the Bee Gees. His mother described him as a little devil and a little monkey, and he dropped out of school at thirteen.

With an acoustic guitar given to him by Barry, he started playing at tourist clubs around Ibiza, where his parents had moved, and later on the Isle of Man. At fifteen, in August 1973, he made his first recordings at Nova Sound Studios in London, including “Windows of My World”. Eventually he moved to the United States and signed with RSO Records.

His debut album Flowing Rivers (1977) produced three American number ones: “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” and “Shadow Dancing”, which topped charts internationally and became his signature song. He was the first solo artist to have his first three singles reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The albums Shadow Dancing (1978) and After Dark (1980) kept his popularity going, and he achieved major success in close collaboration with his brothers.

In the early 1980s he moved into theatre and television, starring in The Pirates of Penzance and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and co-hosting the music show Solid Gold. But substance abuse and depression disrupted his career and commercial success declined. In March 1988, days after his thirtieth birthday, he died of myocarditis, exacerbated by years of drug use. What remains is a short, bright run of pop records that began with “I Just Want to Be Your Everything”.