Hundreds line streets for Gibb’s funeral

AFP/London

Bee Gee Barry Gibb, brother of Robin Gibb, puts a rose on his brother’s grave during a funeral service at St Mary’s Church in Thame yesterday

A horse-drawn carriage took the coffin of Bee Gee Robin Gibb to a church in his home town of Thame in England yesterday for his funeral, through crowds lined up to pay their respects. Gibb, singer with the legendary group and a key figure in the breakthrough of disco, died on May 20 aged 62, having lost his battle against cancer.His private funeral service took place at St Mary’s Church in picturesque Thame in Oxfordshire.The white, glass-sided hearse drawn by four black horses, covered with flowers and accompanied by a bagpiper, carried Gibb’s coffin to the church from his home of 19 years through a crowd of hundreds of fans and locals. Black-clad mourners including his wife Dwina and their son Robin-John, known as RJ, plus his daughter Melissa and son Spencer from his previous marriage, followed behind the cortege as church bells pealed. Also among the mourners was his brother Barry, the sole surviving brother of the three who made up the Bee Gees, as well as lyricist Tim Rice and entertainer Uri Geller. They were joined by his two beloved Irish wolfhounds, Ollie and Missy. Uniformed cadets from 594 Thame Squadron of the Air Training Corps lined up outside the church in recognition of Gibb’s campaign for a memorial to members of Royal Air Force Bomber Command who were killed in action. Bomber Command was a key element of Britain’s forces during World War II. The stone monument has been completed in Hyde Park in London but Gibb did not survive to see it unveiled. The Bee Gees — brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb — helped turn disco into a global phenomenon in the 1970s with hits such as How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin’ Alive, and Night Fever.