"Bee Gees' singer Gibb has
Heat fever"
(Jose Lambiet, Palm Beach Post, 19 June 2006)
Unlike courtside fixtures such as Palm Beach troubadour Jimmy Buffett and Latin crooner Enrique Iglesias, Barry Gibb is one boldfacer who follows the Heat anonymously.
He's just a face in the crowd with thick, dark glasses. He sits in a dimly lit corner of the VIP lounge before the game and at halftime, and eight to 10 rows up during the game. And no one ever tries to have a cellphone picture taken with the rock and disco icon.
Yet, Gibb's a huge deal. For nearly 40 years, he led the Bee Gees, with brothers Maurice and Robin, to sales of 100 million albums worldwide — including most of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Why does he rarely end up on TV or the Jumbotron?
"I'm not very social," Gibb, 59, tells Page Two in explaining why hoops fans haven't flocked to him like they have to Mavs owner Mark Cuban or Heat fan Gloria Estefan. "I love basketball. I come just to watch the games.
"I'm friendly with Pat Riley and Chris (his wife). We've gone to each other's homes for dinners and parties. This is a good chance to catch up with them."
Gibb grew up as a soccer-loving Brit — and he still has the accent to prove it — but came to basketball after moving to Miami Beach 25 years ago. He keeps up with the national squads of England and the United States in the current World Cup and sneaks in some English League viewing on sports channels. But when in Rome ...
"I have four sons," he said. "They built their own basketball court on our property. It's practically regulation-sized. It's got the lines and everything. With four sons in the United States, how couldn't I be into basketball?"
Does he ever try to match Shaquille O'Neal's sterling free-throw shooting in the privacy of his own home?
"Nah," he says. "I'm an old man."
What Gibb likes to talk about these days is his transition into country music. He is working on a honky-tonk CD for next year. And in January, he and wife Linda bought Johnny Cash's lakefront home near Nashville for $2.5 million.
"It's a great house but it had been lived in for 35 years," Gibb said. "We tracked down the original architect, and we're putting it back to its original shape. That's where we plan to be after the series is over."
