Mourning for Bee Gees star: Colin Petersen is dead

With “Stayin’ Alive”, “How Deep Is Your Love” and “More Than A Woman” they created some of the biggest hits of all time. The Bee Gees became icons of the disco movement in the eighties, particularly through their contribution to the soundtrack of the John Travolta cult film “Saturday Night Fever”. But the band around the brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb had already enjoyed success long before that.

In the spring of 1967, the singers, who were then living in Australia, achieved their international breakthrough with the ballad “New York Mining Disaster 1941”, which they followed with songs such as “To Love Somebody” and “Massachusetts”. Also present at the time: guitarist Vince Melouney and drummer Colin Petersen. The latter played drums for the band for two years.

According to Australian media reports, the musician died on Monday, November 18th, at the age of 78. This was confirmed on their Facebook page by the tribute band The Best of Bee Gees, in whose show the drummer took part.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of our dear friend Colin ‘Smiley’ Petersen. He enriched our lives and accompanied our group with love, care and respect. We don’t know how we can carry on without his radiant smile and deep friendship. We love you, Colin. Rest in peace,” the statement said.

Colin Petersen started his showbiz career as a child actor. At the age of nine, he got a role in the film “Smiley”, which later earned him his nickname. In the mid-sixties he concentrated on music and eventually joined the Bee Gees. At the end of 1969 the group disbanded after the Gibb brothers had a falling out. Petersen then started various solo projects and devoted himself to art. He leaves behind his ex-wife Joanne and their sons Jaime and Ben.

Colin Petersen was a child film star in the 1950s and a key figure in a groundbreaking phase of the Bee Gees in the 1960s. The drummer has now died at the age of 78. Most recently he played in a Bee Gees tribute band.

The music world is mourning the loss of a pioneer of the Swinging Sixties: Colin Petersen, who was the drummer of the legendary Bee Gees for around two years, has died at the age of 78. The tribute band The Best of Bee Gees announced this on their Facebook page. Petersen was most recently active in the group as a drummer.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of our dear friend Colin ‘Smiley’ Petersen,” the statement reads. “He enriched our lives and accompanied our group with love, care and respect. We don’t know how we can carry on without his radiant smile and deep friendship. We love you, Colin. Rest in peace.”

The music world is mourning the loss of a pioneer of the Swinging Sixties: Colin Petersen, who was the drummer of the legendary Bee Gees for around two years, has died at the age of 78. The tribute band The Best of Bee Gees reported this on their Facebook page. Petersen was most recently active in the group as a drummer.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of our dear friend Colin ‘Smiley’ Petersen,” the statement reads. “He enriched our lives and accompanied our group with love, care and respect. We don’t know how we can carry on without his radiant smile and deep friendship. We love you, Colin. Rest in peace.”

The Bee Gees only reached the peak of their success in the 70s

Colin Petersen, born in Kingaroy in Queensland, Australia, became a child star at the age of nine in the feature film “Smiley” (1956), which also gave him his nickname. After two more film roles in the 1950s, he came to music in the following decade. As a session drummer, Peterson met the Bee Gees, of which he became a permanent member in 1967. The drummer shaped a short but groundbreaking phase of the young beat band with the respectable image. Hits such as the dark ballad “New York Mining Disaster 1941” and the later often covered “To Love Somebody” were created.

In 1969, the Bee Gees disbanded after a dispute between the brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. This also marked the end of Colin Petersen’s journey with the band. In mid-1970, the brothers put aside their dispute and continued without Petersen and guitarist Vince Meloney. The re-foundation proved to be a wise decision: in the 1970s, the band became more commercially successful than ever before. The highlight was the soundtrack “Saturday Night Fever” (1977) at the peak of the disco wave.

Of the founding members of the Bee Gees, only Barry Gibb (78) is still alive. Maurice Gibb died in 2003, Robin Gibb in 2012.