Here are 25 reasons, records and scarcely believable achievements to make seeing the sole surviving Bee Gee Barry Gibb on his six date North American tour a no-brainer. While emotional, the Mythology Tour is far from maudlin and is more-so a celebration of the incredible legacy of all the brothers, Barry, Robin, Maurice and Andy Gibb.

These 25 reasons are additional to the fact I cannot think of a more humble and truly kind music great than Barry. The tour begins in Boston tonight and see below for my reviews of his Mythology concerts from Australia and New Zealand last year.

• • The Mythology concerts are the longest and most diverse in the career of the Gibb brothers at close to two and half hours.
  • The 12-piece band is arguably the best in Barry’s career, rivaling the team on the 1979 Sprits Having Flown tour.
  • Barry’s son Stephen plays lead guitar and is an acclaimed metal guitarist in his own right.
  • Further to the outstanding soulful backing vocalists Leesa Richards and Charlotte McKinnon is the Barbra Streisand substitute Beth Cohen and of course, Maurice Gibb’s beautiful daughter Samantha Gibb – also a fine singer / songwriter.
  • Barry is the second most successful songwriter in music history after Paul McCartney with 21 different songs to hit US or UK #1.*
  • 220 million albums sold.
  • Over 50 different US or UK top 10 hits as songwriters.
  • 18 US or UK top 10 albums as the Bee Gees.
  • One of the most covered songwriters in Australia in the mid-60s – an accolade achieved while still a teen.
  • Only songwriter to simultaneously have five songs in the US top 10 (several weeks of 1978).
  • Only songwriters and producers to have six consecutive US #1 hits.
  • Only songwriters to have UK #1 hits in five consecutive decades.
  • Only songwriters to write four songs to consecutively top the US charts.**
  • Biggest selling album of all time pre-Michael Jackson’s Thriller (Saturday Night Fever).
  • Writers of the biggest country hit song of all time (Islands In The Stream)
  • Writers of Barbra Streisand’s biggest selling album (Guilty).
  • Writers of Diana Ross’ biggest solo UK hit (Chain Reaction).
  • Writers of Dionne Warwick’s biggest non-Bacharach / David hit (Heartbreaker).
  • Greatest singles chart dominance of one year in American music history by one songwriting act – 1978 (Seven US #1 hits, with How Deep Is Your Love hitting #1 Christmas 1977 and carrying over in 1978).
  • Nine Grammy awards.
  • Inductees in the both the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame and Songwriters Hall Of Fame.
  • Most played song catalogue in the world on radio 2006.***
  • Highest grossing concert in New Zealand history (Western Springs, March 20 – 1999).
  • Crucial to the Bee Gees story is the success they had in corners of the globe other than the US and UK, including the South East Asian #1 hits like My World, Saw A New Morning and Wouldn’t I Be Someone in the early 70s and the South American #1 hits like One and For Whom The Bell Tolls in the late 80s, early 90s.
  • Second most covered songwriters worldwide of all time (after Lennon & McCartney) with versions of Gibb songs by A-list artists like Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, Nina Simone, Destiny’s Child, Janis Joplin, Take That, Glen Campbell, Snoop Dogg, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, the Fugees, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Olivia Newton-John, Cliff Richard, Michael Buble, Diana Krall, Lulu, Tom Jones, Cher, Tina Turner, Feist, Michael Bolton, Al Green, Adam Lambert and literally dozens and dozens of others.