Bee Gee Barry Gibb paid an emotional tribute to his brother Robin’s “magnificent mind and his beautiful heart” at his funeral today - saying he had finally been reunited with his twin.
The 62-year-old singer died from kidney failure last month after fighting cancer and pneumonia and suffering from a serious bowel condition.
Barry, the sole surviving member of the Bee Gees trio, had a trembling voice as he told the congregation at St Mary’s Church in Thame, Oxfordshire: "Life is too short. In Robin’s case, absolutely too short".
“We should have had 20 years, 30 years of his magnificent mind and his beautiful heart.” Referring to the late Maurice Gibb, he added: “They were both beautiful. And now they’re together. They’re actually together.”
Maurice died in 2003.
Barry Gibb said: “When you’re twins, you’re twins all your life. You go through every emotion.
“And they’re finally together. I think the greatest pain for Robin in the past 10 years was losing his twin brother, and I think it did all kinds of things to him.
“And now they’re together.”
Gibb’s elderly mother, Barbara, left the church just before Barry - the last of the four Gibb brothers - gave his eulogy.
He told the congregation: “This is a very strange experience, having already lost two brothers and now Rob.
“I think there are an awful lot of things happening right now that maybe you won’t be aware of. And one is how many people came on such a terrible day. It is staggering.
“So many people loved this boy, so many illustrious people are here that loved him. And that is such a pleasure to witness.
“The three of us have seen a lot of crowds but I’ve never seen so much love in one crowd as I’m looking at today - for Rob, you know, for the music. And it’s an intense experience for me.
“I think it’s an experience none of us will forget. We will keep him in our hearts and minds forever.”
Mourners wept as Robin’s ornate white coffin entered the church to the sound of the Bee Gees’ hit How Deep Is Your Love.
Barry Gibb and the vicar leading the service, the Reverend Alan Garratt, walked up the aisle ahead of it as a round of spontaneous applause broke out from well-wishers outside the church.
Close relatives, including Robin’s widow, Dwina, and his mother followed behind. One woman was so overcome with grief she had to be physically supported as she walked to her seat.
Barry told the congregation of his brother’s sense of humour. He said their favourite television programme was The Goons, and added: “There was no funnier man than Spike Milligan — apart from Robin. And his sharp, intuitive wit will live with us forever.
“You could stand Robin next to Spike Milligan and it would be a competition.” He hinted at recent tensions between himself and Robin, however, saying: “We were laughing all the way. Sometimes crying. God knows how much we argued.
“Even right up to the end we found conflict with each other, which now means nothing. It just means nothing.
“If there’s conflict in your lives — get rid of it.”
PA