Andy Gibb, the youngest sibling of Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, who formed the iconic band the Bee Gees, showcased his remarkable talent as a singer-songwriter during the late 1970s, captivating audiences with chart-topping hits like “I Just Want to Be Your Everything” and “Shadow Dancing.” However, amidst his meteoric rise to fame, Andy grappled with personal demons, including substance abuse, which tragically cut short his life at the tender age of 30 in 1988.
Despite his untimely demise, Andy left behind a legacy through his daughter, Peta Gibb, born to his then-partner, Kim Reeder, in 1978. Peta was just nine years old when Andy passed away, facing the challenge of navigating life without the guidance of her famous father. The 46-year-old, who hardly knew her dad, chose to lead a private life until 2017 when she collaborated with her cousins on an album, The Gibb Collective.
Andy Gibb’s only daughter does not have memories of him
Andy and Kim Reeder met and tied the knot in Sydney, Australia, at 19 and 18, respectively. The couple moved to West Hollywood for the sake of Gibb’s career. While sharing insights about her father with News.co.au, Peta talked about her parent’s divorce. “They were there for about a year when mum became pregnant with me, by then cracks were already showing in their relationship. My father was caught in the fame and parties. He couldn’t escape it,” she explained to the news outlet. “I think, basically, Mum gave him the ultimatum to get straight or she was leaving. He didn’t, so she did, and it was messy. There were lawyers involved and it was all over the press, it was a hard time for our whole family.”
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She added that she had little or no memory of her famous dad due to the separation. “I knew I had a dad; I knew that he was a singer and that he lived in America, and that’s it, really. It wasn’t until much later that I knew he was famous,” Peta admitted. “I remember mum calling me into a room once, pointing at Solid Gold on the TV and saying, ‘That’s your dad.’I always wished we had a more of a chance to get to know each other. I wanted to be close to him like any daughter wants with her father. But outside forces conspired against us. It was so difficult for me to reconcile that this guy in gold pants had anything to do with me or my life or the guy who called me from time to time. It was pretty confusing, actually. There was nothing great about having a celebrity dad.”
Peta Gibb lives a simple life
Peta, a high school teacher who is also into music, reflected on the circumstances surrounding her father’s death. She recalled how she was preparing for a significant competition when she received the news of Andy’s passing. “I’d qualified for the district swimming carnival, and I was really excited about competing. I was in bed the night before the carnival when all hell broke loose,” she noted. “Mum, my grandparents, the phone, everything was going nuts. There was no sleep in the house that night. My father had died, and everyone was freaking out.”
Following her father’s death, she was subjected to an overwhelming amount of attention from the media. “I remember once we were on the cover of a gossip magazine over here,” Peta confessed. “After that, I demanded that I never do any press related to my dad. The bullying was relentless.”