(Reuters) – Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb will be given a private funeral in Britain next week, and a public memorial service will be planned for later this year.
A statement posted Wednesday on the website of the singer, who died in London on May 20 after a long struggle with liver and colon cancer, said a private funeral would take place on June 8 and be restricted to close family and friends.
The family has asked for no flowers but for donations to two children’s charities, Rebecca House and Wish Upon a Dream, on the Isle of Man where Gibb and his musical brothers were born.
Gibb was the third brother in the family to die. Fellow Bee Gee Maurice died in 2003 and Andy Gibb died at age 30 in 1988. Robin Gibb’s death laves Barry Gibb as the sole surviving member of the group behind such hits as “Jive Talkin”, “Stayin’ Alive” and “Massachusetts”.
Fans have left thousands of tributes on Gibb’s website. By Wednesday, 5,920 people had left messages and personal memories of Gibb and the music of the Bee Gees.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant)
