Colin Petersen, the original drummer for The Bee Gees, has died at age 78. Colin was the first non Gibb brother to become a Bee Gee.
Colin Petersen joined The Bee Gees in 1966. Session musicians were used on the early Australian recording such as ‘Spicks and Specks’. Colin was living in the UK when he became a member of the group. He played on the albums ‘Bee Gees 1st’, ‘Horizontal’, ‘Idea’, ‘Odessa’ and ‘Cucumber Castle’. His drumming is heard on the hits ‘Holiday’, ‘Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will ShowYyou’, ‘New York Mining Disaster 1941’, ‘To Love Somebody’, ‘Massachusetts’, ‘I Started A Joke’, ‘First of May’ and ‘I.O.I.O’.
Colin Petersen played drums on The Marbles debut single ‘Only One Woman’ which was written by the Gibb brothers. The Marbles was Graham Bonnet’s first band.
Colin was fired from the band in August 1969 when he raised questions about Robert Stigwood’s conflict of interest as the band’s manager, record label and publisher. Vince Melouney and Robin Gibb had already left the band and with Colin’s departure The Bee Gees were just Barry and Maurice Gibb for a time. The story from The Bee Gees was that he was fired because he had lost interest in the band.
Colin formed the band Humpy Bong in 1969 but the group was short-lived. He returned to Australia in 1974 and worked as a painter in Sydney. He also worked as A&R Manager of EMI Records in Australia signing Carol Lloyd Band.
For the past five years Colin toured Australia with his Best of the Bee Gees show.
Statement about the passing of Colin Peterson
It is with the heaviest of hearts that the Best of the Bee Gees Show announces the passing of our legend, Colin “Smiley” Petersen this morning, Monday 18 November 2024.
Colin was a much loved ‘family’ member of the troupe, holding our audiences spellbound with his stories of the lead role in the iconic Australian film “Smiley”, as the drummer in the original Bee Gees, and performing with the Best of the Bee Gees regularly for the last five years.
Manager Greg Shaw says “I’ve known Colin for thirty-four years and was thrilled when he agreed to bring his career full circle by joining the Best of the Bee Gees. His endearing nature and unabashed storytelling added unique perspectives to the shows and he was loved on and off stage. It was an honour to have called him my friend.”
Friend and colleague Evan Webster says “Our lives were enriched the moment Colin joined our troupe. We shared years of laughs and music travelling around the country. He was such a fine gentleman and lived among us with grace and honour. He will be remembered forever.”
Our deepest thoughts are with Joanne and Colin’s sons Jaime and Ben at this incredibly sad time.
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