    This was on the UK Teletext website -
BEE GEES 'SET TO BE CBEs'
Pop veterans the Bee Gees are to become CBEs in the New Year's Honours list, newspaper reports claim.
The band, whose hits include Stayin' Alive, will be made Commanders of the British Empire for their contribution to pop, it was reported.
The Gibbs - Barry, 55, and twins Robin and Maurice, 52 - were born in the UK but moved to Australia as children.
RECEIVED: 22/12/01 04:49:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was on Yahoo UK -
New Year Honours For Bee Gees And Ben Kingsley
The Bee Gees are to become CBEs in the New Year's Honours list.
According to The Sun newspaper, the band will be made Commanders of the British Empire for their contribution to pop.
The paper also says Ben Kingsley is expected to be knighted.
Barry Gibb, 55, and twins Robin and Maurice, 52 - will receive the honours from the Queen at Buckingham Palace early next year.
The Manchester-born brothers moved to Australia as children where they formed the Bee Gees, a shortened version of the Brothers Gibb.
They were spotted by Beatles manager Brian Epstein and went on to have 36 UK top 50 singles, including five number ones.
Saturday Night Fever, the record which accompanied the 1978 John Travolta movie, held the position of best-selling album until the release of Michael Jackson's Thriller, and remains the best-selling soundtrack of all time.
  CBEs for BeeGees
By ANTHONY STAVRINOS
Monday 31 December 2001
Tight pants and famous falsettos have seen British-born Australian pop group, the Bee Gees, generate dozens of chart hits - now the three brothers have scored a top UK honour.
Barry Gibb and twins Robin and Maurice will each become a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in this year's New Year's honours list.
"I can't believe it, none of us can," Maurice Gibb told Britain's Sky News today.
"It's like a dream, something you dream about when you're a kid ... something that others get. It's something that's untouchable."
Barry and his younger twin brothers were all born in the UK and began performing together when Robin and Maurice were aged only five, taking to the stage at a Manchester cinema.
They later emigrated to Australia as children, where they began to establish their musical career, appearing on TV programs, on radio, and supporting big names as they toured down under, even attracting the attention of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
But while the group has had a dream run of hits in the UK, it didn't have such a smooth ride during its early days here, according to renowned Australian music historian Glenn A Baker.
"Australia was never that kind to them," Baker said.
"They were never taken seriously. They were seen to be a bunch of kids and they were treated as a bit of a novelty act.
"But they've absolutely no bitterness towards it because at the same time they were churning out hits for other artists. It was a real laboratory, a real workshop for them, their Australian years."
The group, whose Saturday Night Fever remains the best-selling soundtrack of all time - have had 36 UK top 50 singles, including five number ones.
Yet, according to Baker, the group put out 11 singles in Australia, with only the last one a hit.
"They were on the boat to England.
"They've decided to go back to the UK, and as they do, Spicks and Specks, their 11th single in Australia, goes racing up the charts," he said.
"There's something very fitting that they should become Commanders of the British Empire, because in many ways they are absolute children of the empire.
"They were born on the Isle Of Man and in Manchester and then came to Australia and made their first 11 singles and three albums in Australia and then went back to England and found themselves a massive global sensation there."
Until the release of Michael Jackson's Thriller, their Saturday Night Fever record, which accompanied the 1978 John Travolta movie, held the position of best-selling album.
Their latest offering - The Record: Their Greatest Hits - was released in Australia in November, hovering at number two and three on the charts.
Nowadays, the Miami-based Bee Gees score their biggest chart success when those dreaded boy bands cover their hits: Boyzone, Take That and Steps have gone to No 1 in Britain with Words, How Deep Is Your Love and Tragedy, respectively.
In November this year, US R&B divas Destiny's Child released a cover of Emotion.
The Bee Gees are estimated to have sold more than 107 million albums worldwide.
-AAP
Taken from - theage.com.au Bee Gees get gongs
31 DEC 2001
From AFP, AFP
THE three brothers of pop group the Bee Gees each will become a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in this year's New Year's honours list.
Barry Gibb and twins Robin and Maurice - whose "Saturday Night Fever," remains the best-selling soundtrack of all time - have had 36 UK top 50 singles, including five number ones.
The brothers were born on the Isle of Man, but moved to Australia as children where they formed the Bee Gees, a shortened version of the Brothers Gibb, and attracted the attention of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Until the release of Michael Jackson's thriller, their Saturday Night Fever record, which accompanied the 1978 John Travolta movie, held the position of best-selling album.
|
