Bee Gees Serenaded by Katharine McPhee at Awards Show

Posted on May 18th 2007 1:00PM by Steve Baltin
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"This is the one award that we would've wanted more than any," the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb told Spinner recently when he and his brothers, Robin and the late Maurice, were honored by songwriting organization BMI for the body of music they have created throughout the years. As part of the BMI Pop Awards ceremony, which also saw Dave Grohl honored for the success of the Foo Fighters song 'Best of You,' as well as several other songwriters, Barry and Robin were treated to renditions of some of their best-known songs by a trio of vocalists, which included 'American Idol' runner-up Katharine McPhee.

Before performing 'Immortality,' McPhee told Spinner that the magnitude of the night hit her only as she walked into the room. "I'm seeing all these people I know that I didn't think were going to be here, and I'm like, 'Oh, s***, this is a big industry thing.'"McPhee also reflected on her Bee Gees memories. Asked what her earliest recollection of the group was, she responded, "Basically just driving in the car with my dad. My dad would take us to school every morning, and if the Beatles were on or the Bee Gees were on, he'd be like, 'Who's on right now?' He'd always test us, make sure we knew the icons."

Hearing these singers interpret their work, as well as receiving a lifetime honor, afforded the Gibbs an opportunity to do some reflecting of their own. "We've had Beyonce do our music, 'Emotion,' and [Barbara] Streisand, 'Woman in Love,'" Robin Gibb told Spinner. "It's very difficult to know what artist, because they'll do a totally different take than actually the way we wrote it. But it's always interesting." Asked which version of one of their songs he was especially keen on, he responded, "I think 'Emotion,' by Destiny's Child, is probably my favorite."