‘We’d have the most fun’ – Barry Gibb Explains His Friendship With Michael Jackson

Maurice Gibb, MJ, BarryGibb, Robin Gibb – circa 1985.

If Michael Jackson was still alive August 29th would’ve been his 57th birthday. That seems reason enough for me to remind fans of the personal and creative friendship that Michael shared with Bee Gee Barry Gibb. Over the years they always spoke very warmly of each other and it’s clear Michael trusted Barry and vice-versa.

Here’s a very small partial transcript of an interview I did with Barry in London back in 2009, just weeks after Michael’s death: (Click here for the full transcript.)

TR: The feeling I get is that Michael Jackson held you guys in the highest regard, that he was really inspired by the late 70s work and maybe took a bit of solace in coming to see you in Miami to escape everything. Is that how it was?

BG: Well not always, but most of the time he stayed at my home when he came to Miami. And most of the time he would have a hotel room, but he wouldn’t be there. So everyone thought he would be there and he’d be at my place and we’d have the most fun. And the fun that he had, the Michael I saw was happy, cheerful… I never saw a dark side of Michael. I never saw an unhappy Michael. He’d swim with the kids, he’d go water-skiing and it was all a very, very natural situation. Just a natural situation and he’d have a great time.

TR: I’ve been listening to some of his songs again, songs like Stranger In Moscow, incredible songs and you realise there’s a synergy between the Gibbs and what he was doing.

BG: Well he has said so and songs like Love You Inside Out in particular struck him as him, saying that that’s what he wanted to do. The Spirits Having Flown album, yeah…

Click here for more from my 2009 Barry Gibb interviewLove You Inside Out by the Bee Gees and the the very Gibb-like ballad Stranger In Moscow by Michael Jackson are below:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.