Robin Gibb says writing a symphony about the sinking of the Titanic helped him beat cancer.
The Bee Gees star was diagnosed with liver problems last year and although he is now in recovery, he believes chanelling his energies into composing his first classical work, ‘The Titanic Requiem’, helped him in his battle.
Robin – who worked on the piece with son R.J. – said: ”I’m truly grateful that working on ‘The Titanic Requiem’ distracted me from my illness to such a degree that I truly believe it might have saved my life.”
Robin says he’s been fascinated with the ship – which sunk on its maiden voyage in 1912 – ever since he had a bad experience on a boat when he was a little boy.
He told The Sun newspaper: ”One of my earliest memories goes back to when I was a little boy of seven and my grandmother told me how her mother cried floods of tears when she heard that the Titanic had sunk. Then, when I was eight and me and my family were sailing to Australia to start our musical career and begin a new life, we got caught in a monsoon.
”At times the waves flung the boat high, the next minute deep in a trough. The passengers were collapsing all over the deck and being sick but I wasn’t. Then the captain made the announcement, ‘Do not worry. There hasn’t been a tragedy at sea since the Titanic went down in 1912.’
”It wasn’t true, of course, or heartening for us passengers. But yet again, the spectre of the Titanic had been raised.”
Robin says he hopes ‘The Titanic Requiem’ will be a lasting tribute to all of those who lost their lives on the ship.
He said: ”I just hope that ‘The Titanic Requiem’ will be a fitting memorial for all those brave souls who died during the tragedy, so they will never be forgotten.”