Today saw the sad death of Robin Gibb, one-third of the Bee Gees. His distinctive vocals were a key ingredient in the sound and many successes of the group, formed with his brothers Maurice and Barry in 1958. From these early beginnings one of the most popular, most enduring and distinctive acts stood the test of time, with their unique vocal harmonies and superior song-writing skills becoming known the world over.

It is a very sad day indeed to have lost such an icon of the music world. You only have to listen to the fantastically-crafted songs to realise what talent lay hidden beneath the unassuming exterior. When we first started listening carefully to the songs during our very first rehearsals, we soon came to realise that these songs weren’t just ‘thrown together’ but carefully and deliberately crafted to produce a stunning end result. 200 million world-wide sales would tend to suggest many other people thought the same. The fact that there are only a few Bee Gees tribute acts pays testament to the difficulty in reproducing their songs – again down to the skill and talent that was poured into them originally.

We, alongside many millions of others, will miss Robin as we still do Maurice.

But the music lives on, and will do for many many years.

Robin Gibb, we salute you.