Tragic news came down the wire last night that Bee Gees’ member Robin Gibb has died.

The Bee Gees singer passed away aged 62. Gibb had fought a long and well-publicised battle with colon cancer, and had also grappled with intestinal problems and pneumonia in recent years.

In a statement, the Gibb family said: “The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time.”

The Bee Gees were one of the most formidable performing and songwriting outfits of the 20th century. The British-born, Australian-raised combo consisted of Robin, twin brother Maurice and older brother Barry. Having first achieved success in the tail-end of the Sixties (a period that saw Robin leave the bands for a number of years) the band dominated the latter half of the 1970s with a string of disco-inflected numbers. ‘Jive Talkin’, ‘You Should be Dancing’ and ‘Nights On Broadway’ all did sizeable business. Their 1977 Saturday Night Fever OST sent the trio stratospheric, spawning the hits ‘Stayin’ Alive’, ‘Night Fever’ and ‘How Deep Is Your Love’. Their success continued deep into the 1980s.

Robin also released a glut of solo LPs over his career, from 1970’s Robin’s Reign through to this year’s classical suite Titanic Requiem. Alongside their own work, the trio also wrote tracks for the likes of Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross. The band have notched up over 200 million album sales across the world.