Bee Gees Disco-Generation Drummer Dies at 76

Former Bee Gees drummer Dennis Bryon has died at 76, simply 4 days after the passing of Colin “Smiley” Petersen, over again keeper from one of the vital sibling trio’s vintage eras. Bryon’s demise used to be showed by means of Blue Weaver, the keyboardist of their Nineteen Sixties Welsh rock band, Amen Nook.

“I’m misplaced for phrases in this day and age… Dennis has passed on to the great beyond,” Weaver wrote on Fb ultimate Thursday. “Kayte, Denni’s spouse has simply known as me and requested if I’d let all pals and enthusiasts know. This used to be the sort of surprise. Dennis has been my good friend, since we had been in our first band in combination at age 15. His nice drumming will at all times Keep Alive…” Weaver didn’t supply a explanation for demise or any further main points on when Bryon handed.

Bryon took over the drum seat from Petersen, who died on Nov. 18 on the age of 78; Petersen joined the English-Australian band shaped by means of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb in 1966, enjoying on a string of early hits that cemented the trio’s vocal prowess, together with “To Love Any person” and “I Began a Shaggy dog story.”

Following Petersen’s departure, Cardiff, Wales-bred Bryon teamed up with the Gibbs in 1973, simply as their megastar used to be set to shoot to supernova in the middle of the disco revolution. His first recorded look used to be at the band’s twelfth studio album, 1974’s Mr. Herbal, which presaged their pivot to a extra R&B/soul-influenced sound. That path used to be additional cemented at the following 12 months’s Primary Direction, which featured the funky singles “Night time on Broadway” and “Jive Talkin’.”

Their successful streak persisted on 1976’s Kids of the International, on which their complete pivot to dancefloor dons produced the Billboard Sizzling 100 wreck “You Will have to Be Dancing,” a prelude to the album that will lead them to the undisputed kings of the disco technology: their Saturday Night time Fever soundtrack.

That 1977 spouse to the hit John Travolta film of the similar title used to be for a time the best-selling album ever — and nonetheless ranks within the best 10 on that listing — due to such indelible jams as “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Night time Fever,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “Extra Than a Lady,” “If I Can’t Have You” and others.

He persisted appearing and recording with the band via the remainder of the last decade, along with his ultimate recorded efforts with the Gibbs showing on 1979’s Spirits Have Flown, which spawned but extra No. 1 hits in “Love You Within Out,” “Tragedy” and “Too A lot Heaven.”

In step with a bio, Dennis Ronald Bryon used to be born in Cardiff on April 14, 1949 and started enjoying the drums at 14 ahead of forming Amen nook with cherished British guitarist Andy Fairweather Low (Roger Waters, Eric Clapton). The gang scored a lot of Ecu hits with songs together with “Gin Area Blues,” “Bend Me Form Me,” “Hi Susie” and “Residing in a International of Damaged Hearts.”

After Amen Nook broke up, Bryon auditioned for the Bee Gees in 1973 and later turned into the one drummer in pop historical past — but even so the Beatles’ Ringo Starr — to having 5 songs within the best ten at the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart concurrently. After leaving the Bee Gees, Bryon moved to Nashville and started a protracted occupation as a consultation musician, preforming and recording with Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Edmunds and, extra just lately, The Italian Bee Gees. He launched a memoir, You Will have to Be Dancing, in 2015.

Following the deaths of Maurice Gibb in 2003 at 53 and dual Robin in 2012 at age 62, eldest sibling Barry, 78, is the ultimate surviving member of the Bee Gees.