The music world was shaken when the Bee Gees singer, Robin Gibb, passed away at the age of 62 after a courageous battle against cancer yesterday.

Robin was battling ill health for several years. In August 2010, he suffered stomach cramps and underwent an emergency operation for a blocked intestine. However, a tumour was discovered and he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and of the liver.

Last month Robin fell into a coma after contracting pneumonia. He regained consciousness four weeks ago and was making a positive recovery. But the British-born Gibb died surrounded by his wife and children last night.

“Sunday 20 May, 2012 at 10:46: The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time”, Gibb’s family said in a statement.

Tributes from friends, family and fellow musicians have poured in after the news surfaced. The singer, who sold more than 200 million records, was described as ’talented beyond even his own understanding’ by Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini. He also dubbed him as ‘one of the important figures in the history of British music’.

“He was wonderful. He was a jokester. He had an incredibly witty sense of humour and was fun to be around. All three of them were sensational gentlemen first, just fun loving guys”, said singer Dionne Warwick, whose biggest hit Heartbreaker was written by the Gibb brothers.

Several people took to Twitter to pay tributes to the legend. ”Rest in peace, Robin Gibb. Thanks for the music”, tweeted Sony Music.”Robin Gibb RIP. Very sad to hear about yet another great singer dying too young”, posted Canadian rocker Adams.

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