Teen idol of the 70's, Andy Gibb reached worldwide fame when he was only 19.
It seemed that every door was wide open for him.
Although his life looked like a fairy tale — it was not.
Andy was struggling with depression and loneliness for years.
He died tragically at the age of 30.
What went wrong?
Two days after his 30th birthday, Andy Gibb complained of mysterious stomach pains.
At his doctor's appointment, Gibb was told that more tests were needed to clarify what
was going on with him.
Andy agreed but a few seconds later, he suddenly fell unconscious and in a moment his heart stopped.
The official statement of the Hospital was that Gibb
However, was his sudden death a result of the drug addiction Andy suffered from years
ago, during the times of his worldwide popularity?
He was barely 19 when his first single, "I Just Wanna Be Your Everything," hit the top
of the charts in 1977.
He was nominated for two Grammys and earned $2 million in one year!
Andy sold over 15 million records worldwide by the time he was 21.
Young and naive, Andy accepted every new gift that glory brought him and unfortunately,
cocaine was one of them.
Cocaine addiction tremendously changed his career.
Andy started to fail his business arrangements because of mental imbalance.
In 1981, producer Brad Lachman signed Gibb to co-host the syndicated TV show "Solid Gold"
with Marilyn McCoo.
After constant conflicts and several missed meetings, Gibb was fired.
Lachman commented on Andy`s behavior that
Such business conflicts happened to Andy over and over again till 1982, when a new hope
for change appeared.
Andy, at 23, fell madly in love with Victoria Principal, who was 31.
Their love brought new color to his life.
But cocaine ruined it all.
“If something wasn’t going well between them,” Lachman recalls, “he was devastated.”
Things often didn’t go well, and after 13 months, the relationship ended.
When the two broke up, Gibb said,
Gibb got very paranoid, he blew away millions and nothing seemed to help him.
In 1985, his family finally made him enter the Betty Ford Center in California for full rehabilitation.
It took tons of effort, but he managed to fully recover from drug addiction.
After recovery, Andy was feeling lonely and tired, though he managed to start writing
a new album.
He was living alone with his retriever, Sam, working hard, only occasionally taking a break
to walk his dog.
His few public appearances were at charity functions, where he would play backup to his
brothers on a borrowed guitar.
For Andy`s 30th birthday, his mother flew over from L.A. and the two had a quiet celebration at home.
To those who did see him from time to time, Andy appeared cheerful, eager, and healthy.
It seemed he had done everything to leave his cocaine past behind.
Apparently, it was already too late and cocaine had already left its mark leading Andy to
a fatal heart accident.
Andy`s cute smile and his songs will remain forever in our hearts.
Though how different his story might have been if he hadn`t gone down that cocaine path.
Thanks for watching.
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