Two Key Bee Gees Members Die Within Days of Each Other

Drummers from the Bee Gees‘ two signature periods have passed away within four days of one another: Disco-era contributor Dennis Bryon, 76, died on Nov. 14 and original member Colin Petersen, 78, followed on Nov. 18.

Both Bryon and Petersen later led tribute bands to the famous group. No cause of death was given for Bryon. Petersen reportedly died after a fall.

Barry Gibb, 78, is now only remaining original Bee Gees member. His brother Robin Gibb died at age 62 in 2012, after their sibling Maurice Gibb died at 53 in 2003.

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Bryon said he felt an instant connection with the group in the early ’70s. He remembered Maurice welcoming him to the family – before Barry noted that Bryon hadn’t auditioned yet.

“Yeah, he may play like a girl,” Bryon remembered Robin saying. “Without thinking, I shot back at Robin, ‘Well at least I don’t sing like one.’ Oh, my God – the silence in the room was deafening. Then, after moments that seemed more like minutes, Maurice came to my rescue,” Bryon later told Modern Drummer. “‘You know what,'” Maurice said as he looked at Robin. ‘Come to think of it, you do sing like a girl.’ Everybody in the room, including Robin cracked up. Maurice saved my life.”

Petersen joined in 1967, playing on the first four Bee Gees albums. This coincided with their early hit-ballad era, as Petersen appeared on the No. 14 hit “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” the No. 11 single “Massachusetts” and the No. 17 hit “To Love Somebody,” among others. They’d all attended the same school together in Queensland, Australia.

Listen to Bee Gees’ ‘To Love Somebody’

Bee Gees’ Colin Petersen Began as a Child Actor

“I wasn’t the most technically skilled drummer, but I think that sometimes less is more,” Petersen later admitted. “When you’re limited, you have to get creative – just like Chuck Berry, who made magic with just a few chords. For me, it was always about serving the song.”

He’d earlier worked as a child actor and was known as “Smiley” after appearing in the 1956 film of the same name. Petersen subsequently collaborated with fellow Bee Gees alum Jonathan Kelly then started appearing with the Best of the Bee Gees tribute act some five years ago.

“I went to see the show. It would have been about the third song in and I thought to myself, ‘Bloody hell, this band is really great,'” Petersen told The Guardian. “The voices were so close, and it was well presented and they all seem really comfortable on stage and enjoying it, which is really important.”

The Best of the Bee Gees group initially confirmed Petersen’s death. “He enriched our lives and bound our group with love, care and respect,” the band said in an official statement. “Not sure how we can go on without his glowing smile and deep friendship.”

Listen to Bee Gees’ ‘Jive Talkin”

Dennis Bryon’s Big Bee Gees Moment

Bryon joined in 1973, just before the more dance-oriented Main Course hurtled the group to their widest fame in the U.S. Saturday Night Fever went 16-times platinum in 1977, with Bryon playing on a string of chart-topping Bee Gees songs that included “Jive Talkin’,” “You Should Be Dancing,” “How Deep is Your Love” and “Stayin’ Alive.”

The drummer recalled a telling moment in the memoir You Should Be Dancing: My Life with the Bee Gees as he took his new BMW 320i out for a first drive in 1978: “Five radio stations in and around Miami – all of them playing songs by the Bee Gees from our most recent album, all at the same time,” Bryon remembered. “That’s when I knew this record was big. Very, very big.”

After leaving the group in 1981, Bryon appeared with a tribute band called the Italian Bee Gees, which was also led by three brothers. “My style of playing is simple: R&B/groove,” Bryon told Modern Drummer. “And my approach to recording is equally simple: Get out of the way, and let the song sing.”