Sad times for all of us Bee Gees fans around the world with the news that Robin Gibb has liver cancer, which obviously is never a good diagnosis to receive.

But Robin, only 61, is determined to fight the good fight and even hit the road again with his surviving Bee Gee brother Barry (his twin Maurice, the third member of the hugely popular group, died unexpectedly in 2003 after complications from surgery). 

Robin’s Irish-born wife Dwina Murphy Gibb is investigating alternative treatments for her husband that may sound cuckoo, but when you’re desperate you’ll grasp for any and all straws.

"This incredible Indian tribe introduced Robin and I to something called spider medicine.  It apparently contains properties that can help you get well from certain untreatable illnesses,” Dwina said.

Though Robin earned fame and fortune from his years with the Bee Gees, Dwina’s no shrinking violet herself. A native of Co. Tyrone, she’s a bisexual writer, artist, playwright, ordained Druid priestess, lover of Irish history and owner of two Irish wolfhounds.

To say the couple, married for 27 years and parents of a 28-year-old son, have had a colorful life is an understatement. They’ve talked about having an “open” marriage in the past, and indeed their relationship was wide open a few years back when Robin fathered a daughter with their former housekeeper who is in her mid-thirties.

Dwina was said to be furious over the eight-year affair and the birth of Snow Robin, now three. But the marriage survived and mother and child live in luxury not far from the Gibbs’ main base in Oxfordshire, England. 

When asked last year about his marriage to Dwina Robin said, “AlI I can say about that is it’s rock-solid and that’s the most important thing to me. I’ve never felt anything different.”
Prior to his illness being revealed, Robin was working on a classical piece of music called “The Titanic Requiem” to commemorate the 100th anniversary next year of the ill-fated Belfast-built luxury liner.  It is due to be played at the Royal Albert Hall in London next year.

“I have been very unwell and am now on the road to recovering, and your prayers and wishes are a great tonic to me. I believe because of you I will get well,” Robin wrote on his blog last week.  Here’s hoping he’s right.