Surviving Bee Gees detail fearless youth

MIAMI, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Isle of Man brothers Robin and Barry Gibb, who formed the Bee Gees with their brother Maurice, said the trio were fearless while pursuing success.

Barry, 63, told The Sunday Times of London when he and his two brothers signed a five-year management deal in September 1967 in Britain, they were unpolished musicians afraid of nothing.

"We were pretty bad then," Barry said. "But we were fearless."

"We had a blind belief in ourselves," Robin, 59, offered. "Luckily, we were also blind to the immense amount of competition there was."

The three siblings found success with their debut LP, "Bee Gees 1st," and later earned international popularity with hits on the soundtrack to the U.S. movie "Saturday Night Fever."

Barry told The Sunday Times that success lasted until 2003 when Maurice died at the age of 53, leading to troubled times for the Bee Gees as a whole.

"His passing scattered everything to the wind," said Barry, whose band is releasing the greatest hits compilation "Ultimate Bee Gees" Nov. 2. "Robin drove himself on, but I couldn't find the passion, I couldn't force anything else out. I thought we were done."