Barry Gibb remembers his late Bee Gees bandmates and brothers after being named a 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree.
On Sunday night, Gibb, 77, along with Billy Crystal, Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick and Renée Fleming, were honored for their contributions to entertainment at the annual event held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
While there, the “Stayin’ Alive” hitmaker reflected on the legacy he created with Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb.
“I am proud of my brothers and myself. I never think, ‘It’s all about me,’” Barry told PEOPLE on the red carpet. “I never thought that, and what we all did together, when we were good, when we were strong, was something we were proud of.”
The “Wish You Were Here” artist opened up about how he still carries the presence of his younger siblings with him wherever he goes.
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Bee Gees, 1970.
Allan Tannenbaum/PICTURES/Getty
“I’d hear Robin sing one night and I’d be like, ‘Wow, he’s flying tonight.’ So there was always that spiritual support and sometimes the same thing would happen with Norris. And every time one of us excelled, the other two brothers were in the background. They knew it. They knew it and support it. We supported each other.”
Robin died in May 2012 aged 62 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Harmony, Hits and Hell: The Tragic History of the Bee Gees
“It is with great sadness that the family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce that Robin has passed away today after a long battle with cancer and bowel surgery,” his representative said in a statement at the time.
Maurice, the group’s lead singer and bassist, died in January 2003 aged 53 after suffering a heart attack while preparing for abdominal surgery to remove an intestinal blockage.
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Bee Gees, circa 1977.
Michael Ochs/Getty Archive
Asked if Barry felt his brothers were present with him on Sunday, he replied: “Yes, I do.”
“Well, I thought they were with me last night. I felt they were there. It’s very emotional because something is happening in the air and you just feel it. You just feel it,” he told reporters. “I didn’t write the speech. I never write. I used to, but I don’t do it anymore. I just stand up and say something and I don’t know what I’m going to say.”
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President Biden also reflected on the profound influence of the Bee Gees while speaking at the ceremony.
“As a child in Australia and England, Barry Gibb finally arrived in the United States,” Biden said. “And he and his brothers focused on one thing: making it big… From their soul hits in the ’60s to fueling the disco explosion in the 1970s, the Bee Gees defied genres and left a lasting mark on pop music, music .”
Speaking to PEOPLE in the late 1970s, the trio opened up about how in 1977 they Saturday night fever the soundtrack left its mark in history.
“The world wanted to dance,” the brothers told PEOPLE at the time. “Lawyers and judges and people who never buy albums also bought Saturday night fever and attending dance classes.”
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