2 former drummers for legendary pop band the Bee Gees pass away in 4 days

Colin Petersen, the first drummer for the legendary pop band the Bee Gees has died aged 78.

Petersen’s death was announced on Nov. 18 by the Bee Gees tribute band he had been playing with in recent years, the Best of the Bee Gees.

You don’t know what it’s like

Petersen was born in Australia in 1946 and met the three brothers that would form the Bee Gees — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb — in a school in Queensland, according to news.com.au.

When the brothers moved to England to pursue music in the 1960s, he did so as well, hoping to become an actor. He eventually joined the Bee Gees when the acting career didn’t pan out.

He was their drummer during the initial stages of the band’s growth, playing on albums such as Bee Gees' 1st, Horizontal, and Odessa, and songs such as To Love Somebody.

But his time with the band came to an end after an acrimonious dispute with the band’s manager and saw him leave just before the 1970s era of disco dominance that the Bee Gees would be best known for.

Petersen returned to Australia and continued to work in the music industry until in 2019, when his musical career would come full circle — he was “strong-armed” into watching a Bee Gees tribute band, The Best of the Bee Gees.

Impressed by their ability, he would be invited to join the group after being told that “it’s about time you owned your past”.

It would be this group that announced news of Petersen’s death, which was reportedly due to a fall, as reported by The New York Times.

How deep is your love

Petersen was not part of the Bee Gees during its most well-known disco phase in the 1970s when the group employed a number of drummers to play with them.

Sadly, the drummer who played drums for some of their most iconic songs, Dennis Byron, also passed away, just four days before Petersen.

Byron contributed drums to the recordings of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, as well as to songs such as How Deep Is Your Love, according to The Guardian.

The sole surviving Gibbs brother, Barry, paid tribute to both drummers in a Nov. 19 social media post.

Calling both men “two of the finest drummers” he had ever known, he said their deaths were “a terrible shock”.

Gibbs said that he “liked to think” that they had been needed for “a giant jam session going on in heaven”, and that his brothers, Maurice and Robin were waiting for them.

Sending his condolences to their family, he ended his note with a heartfelt “I love you both”.

Top image via Best of the Bee Gees/Facebook, Bee Gees/Facebook & Barry Gibbs/Facebook