Barry Gibb Kept the Woman He Loved a SECRET — Then Wrote This Song About Her

In 1967, Barry Gibb met the woman he would love for the rest of his life. Her name was Linda Gray, a former Miss Edinburgh working as a hostess on Top of the Pops in the week the Bee Gees’ “Massachusetts” hit number one. Barry has called it love at first sight. But for the next three years, she was kept out of sight. Barry later explained that in 1967, a pop artist signed to a label wasn’t allowed to have a girlfriend, so Linda always had to hide or stay at home. Yet the dates reveal a second reason that is rarely discussed, and a contrast with his brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb, who both married in public. Almost fifty years later, Barry released “Star Crossed Lovers” on his 2016 solo album In the Now and said, “It’s for my wife Linda. We were star-crossed.” Why would a man in one of the longest marriages in music use those words? And why did the song, first written in 2004, wait twelve years to be heard? This is the story of a hidden beginning, the losses of Andy, Maurice, and Robin Gibb, and the woman who brought Barry back to music when he was ready to quit. RetroWaves tells the deeper human stories behind the legendary artists of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. If these stories stay with you, subscribe and share your memories of the Bee Gees in the comments. This video is based on published interviews and documented sources.