Lesley, the "Fourth Bee Gee," Is Still Alive and Well
Published Dec. 15 2020, 8:12 p.m. ET
Maurice Gibb and Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees perform on stage with sister Lesley (right) in 1969
New to HBO is The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, a heartfelt and intimate documentary about one of the biggest acts in disco music. Tracking the rise, fall, and rise of The Bee Gees through the 1970s, this documentary puts it all on the table.
But while How Can You Mend a Broken Heart provides a detailed retelling of the lives of the Brothers Gibb, there’s one sibling of the Gibb family who doesn’t get mentioned at all: sister Lesley Gibb.
If you watched the documentary, you’re probably wondering whether The Bee Gees' sister Lesley Gibb is alive and if so, what happened to her? Keep scrolling to find out.
From left to right, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, drummer Colin Petersen, Robin Gibb and bassist Vince Melouney
Is The Bee Gees' sister Lesley Gibb still alive?
Yes, Lesley Gibb, the Bee Gee no one has heard of, is still alive. While even the most die-hard fans of The Bee Gees don’t know Lesley, in inner circles she’s often called the fourth Bee Gee.
Lesley Gibb, now Lesley Evans, even sang with the band in their early days, but she chose to turn down fame and superstardom for a more conventional life. As her brothers continued to climb to stardom, Lesley remained in the background and away from the limelight.
Like her brothers, Lesley also had a talent for singing. In 1969, when the Bee Gees were already international singing sensations, they were slated to appear in London for a live performance. But a few weeks prior to appearing on stage, the brothers had a huge fight that caused Robin to walk out on the group.
Members of the family of note include father and 1940s bandleader Hugh Gibb, mother Barbara, sons Barry, Robin, and Maurice of the Bee Gees, daughter Lesley, and son singer Andy Gibb.
It was the band’s manager, Robert Stigwood, who called Lesley to fill in for her brother at the sold-out show. Although Lesley wanted no part in her brothers' fight, she stepped in at the last minute and rehearsed constantly for a month before the live performance.
“It was amazing. I loved it on the night,” Lesley said. “I know Robin watched it and he said he felt very choked up about it.”
Luckily for Robin, Lesley never had any interest in show business, and as a new mother to twin daughters, she left her brothers to go home soon after the London show. Robin eventually returned to the band and Lesley went on to live a life of relative obscurity in Australia.
As The Bee Gees went on to sell over 220 million albums worldwide, Lesley built her home in Sydney with her husband Keith and their seven children before the couple retired to the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. She also became a top breeder of Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
Today, Lesley and brother Barry are the only remaining siblings from the Gibb clan left alive.
Sadly, Andy died in 1988 from a heart condition at the age of 30. Maurice, the band’s musical director, died of a heart attack at the age of 53 while waiting for surgery to repair a twisted intestine. And Robin died in 2012 after a battle with cancer.
Stream The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart on HBO.
