Introduction:
Maurice Gibb gave a moving solo rendition of one of his late brother Andy Gibb’s songs while rehearsing for one of the Bee Gees’ One Night Only concerts.
While the band were doing sound checks at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium in March 1999, Maurice couldn’t help but sing along with the backing track of ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ – despite the fact the band weren’t rehearsing their singing at the time.
The moving behind-the-scenes moment was caught on camera by someone present at the venue during rehearsals, and later posted online.
Watch Maurice sing along to ‘Don’t Throw It All Away’ below:
While Maurice’s solo cover of his brother’s song was soon disturbed by the continuation of the band’s soundcheck, the moment offers a sweet insight into how much the then-49-year-old singer loved his brother’s song.
During One Night Only – a show the Bee Gees first performed in Las Vegas in 1997 but later took around the world – Maurice was joined by Barry and Robin Gibb in performing the family group’s tribute to Andy Gibb.
During the Bee Gees’ One Night Only set, the musical trio harmonised with Andy’s own ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ vocals while footage of Andy played in the background on several screens.
Videos of this tribute also exist thanks to the band’s official film recording of the 1997 MGM Grand-based concert.
That concert’s audio was also recorded for a live album which was released by the band in 1998.
But the above behind-the-scenes recording of Maurice rehearsing ahead of a later edition of the show offers a far rarer insight into the brothers’ tribute to their lost sibling.
Andy was the youngest of the Gibb family, the sibling of oldest brother Barry and twins Robin and Maurice Gibb, plus their similarly musical (but mostly out of the spotlight) older sister Lesley Gibb.
The singer was also the most troubled of his siblings, however, and died from complications related to drug abuse in 1988, aged just 30.
Andy’s death hit the Gibb family hard. Speaking with The Mirror in 2009, Barry and Robin Gibb revealed how the family had tried to help their brother get help.
“We knew that Andy was in bad shape – he had some bad substance habits,” Barry admitted. “But we never thought we would lose him.”
Andy released ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ in 1978. It was the third single from his second album Shadow Dancing.
The song was originally recorded by the Bee Gees in 1977, but this version was not released until after Andy’s version had made the track famous.
This article has been edited to correct a previous assertion that the footage featured was recorded ahead of 1997’s One Night Only show in Las Vegas.