Barry Gibb says ‘trapped’ Michael Jackson ‘didn’t know who his friends were’

Pair recorded together at the same time as Jackson was involved in a series of legal battles

Barry Gibb has revealed he once had to “politely” ask Michael Jackson to leave his house, after overstaying his welcome because he “didn’t know who his friends were”.

The Bee Gees star worked with Jackson in 2002, shortly after the initial invasion of Iraq, with the pair writing a song responding to the conflict. However, Gibb suspected that Jackson had ulterior motives while collaborating.

“We sat around in my lounge for days at a time, just having fun, not really writing songs,” Gibb recalled to The Guardian. “We came up with one, ‘All in My Name’, but we were never that serious about it. I think Michael was just trying to escape the legal environment he was trapped in, he was visiting people he knew that he could relate to, because he didn’t know who his friends were.”

In 2002, Jackson was embroiled in controversy as a result of a documentary in which he confessed that he sometimes shared his bed with a young boy. He was also involved in a high-profile battle with his record label Sony at the time.

Gibb remembered that Jackson’s presence in his home soon became a problem for him and his family.

He remembered: “He started to hang out at the house all the time and I had to get up in the morning; I’m 12 years older than him, I had to take my kids to school. At some point, I said: ‘Michael, wherever it is you’re going, you’ve got to go.’ So I politely asked Michael Jackson to leave my house because I couldn’t get anything else done.”

Gibb is the last surviving Bee Gee following the deaths of his brothers Robin, in 2012, and Maurice, in 2003. Their youngest brother Andy, who performed solo, died in 1988.

(John Phillips/Jim Ruyman-Pool/Getty Images)

Their story is told in a new documentary, titled How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. It will be broadcast on 13 December on Sky Documentaries.