Introduction:
The former Bee Gees member married his wife, Linda Gray, in 1970The former Bee Gees member married his wife, Linda Gray, in 1970
Barry Gibb has been married to his wife, Linda Gray, for over five decades.
The Grammy-winning musician, singer and songwriter started out as a member of the iconic band the Bee Gees alongside his late brothers, Robin and Maurice. Gibb and his siblings were born in England and raised in Australia, where he married his first wife, Maureen Bates, in 1966 when he was only 19. The two split soon after, according to a 2017 episode of Piers Morganâs Life Stories focused on Gibb.
When the Bee Gees relocated back to England to pursue their music career, Gibb met Gray â a former Miss Edinburgh from Scotland â in 1967. The couple married three years later and went on to welcome five children.
â[Linda] is a very, very special person. Sheâs just so full of love and full of fun, and she has a great sense of humor,â Gibb told Piers Morgan in 2017. “We tend to laugh a lot at everything around us [more] than we could find anything to be unhappy about.”
So, who is Barry Gibbâs wife? Hereâs everything to know about Linda Gray and her relationship with the singer.
They met on the set of Top of the Pops
Gibb and Gray crossed paths on the British music TV show Top of the Pops in September 1967.
Gray also remembers it being as spontaneous. She recounted their meeting in a documentary clip on Gibbâs episode of Piers Morganâs Life Stories in 2017. âThe girls I was with, they said, âOh my god, that guy is so handsome. Heâs looking at you! Oh, heâs coming over,â â she said. âHe asked me if Iâd like to go for a cup of tea.â
When Morgan inquired if it was love at first sight, Gibb said, âI think it was. In my head I thought, âThat’s the woman Iâm going to spend my life with.â â
They married in 1970
Gibb and Gray tied the knot at Caxton Hall in London on Sept. 1, 1970. The wedding took place on Gibbâs 24th birthday, per a black-and-white news clip from that day posted by the Associated Press that shows the couple leaving their ceremony. According to the snippet, Gray was Gibbâs secretary for 18 months before their marriage.
Though Gibb and Gray have been married for over five decades, their son Ashley said their love remains just as strong. âStill, they love each other today just like they did then,â he said on Piers Morganâs Life Stories in 2017.
They have five children
ibb and Gray have four sons and one daughter: Stephen, Ashley, Travis, Michael and Alexandra. Three years after the pair married, they welcomed their first child, Stephen, in 1973, and celebrated the arrival of their last child, Alexandra, in 1991.
Gibb told The Roxborough Report in 2012 that family is the most important thing in his life, followed closely by his music. He shared that Gray has always been a âtower of strengthâ for their extended family. (They are grandparents to seven grandchildren.)
â[Our family has] really flowered. The family has grown and grown and we all know each other and love each other and Iâve got some of the most beautiful women in the world in my family,â Gibb told the outlet.
She encouraged him to restart his career
After Maurice and Robin died in 2003 and 2012, respectively, Gibb was âmoping around, meandering,â he told Billboard in 2016, feeling like his life was defined by the past â that is until Gray pulled him out of it.
âI was ready to quit. I was done. There was no point in going on any further,â he said. âShe came [into the room one night], and she said, âYouâve got to get off your a–. You still have your own life. Youâve got to live.â â
Gray encouraged Gibb to get out of the house and get onstage again, he told TIME in 2014. That same year, Gibb went on his first solo tour with his son Stephen and his niece Samantha (Mauriceâs daughter).
He told TIME that touring with family was âinstinctive. We all want to play together. Itâs a treat to have Steve standing next to me and Sammy singing.â
In 2016, Gibb released his first-ever solo album titled In the Now. His sons Stephen and Ashley were his cowriters, according to Billboard.
âââThe album is my opinion of life,â Gibb explained to the outlet. âMy feelings and my journey with my brothers, and without my brothers, with my parents and without my parents, and with my own family, seeing my kids have their own kids.â
She always supported his health and wellbeing
Gibbâs youngest brother Andy Gibb died in 1988 after struggling with alcohol and drug addiction and failing health. Gibb told The Guardian in 2020 that he witnessed how ultra levels of fame can impact a person, but he credits Gray for saving him from the addiction and overindulgence that befell all three of his brothers.
âMy brothers had to deal with their demons, but I was married to a lady who wasnât going to have it,â Gibb told The Guardian. âShe never allowed me to go in that direction. I had to deal with my brothers being pretty much out there, but I was lucky.â
They live in Miami
One year after they welcomed their first child, Gibb and Gray moved from England to Miami, Florida, along with the entire family, according to The Guardian. Gibb told the outlet in 2020 that he liked Miami because it reminded him of Australia, where he grew up.
The band moved to Miami in 1974 at the suggestion of English rock singer Eric Clapton, who believed that while the Bee Gees’ career was stagnant, a change of location might be beneficial. The brothers moved into Claptonâs former home, where he wrote the album 461 Ocean Boulevard after the houseâs address.
Gibb and Gray still live there today, in a waterfront mansion in an exclusive country club, though they still have a home in England as well.
