Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb wakes up from coma, says spokesman

LONDON - Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has woken from a coma and responded to members of his family, his spokesman said Saturday.

Gibb, 62, contracted pneumonia and fell into the coma last week. He is suffering from colon and liver cancer.

His spokesman Doug Wright said Gibb had been able to nod and communicate with family members who have been at his bedside at a hospital in west London.

He did not give further details.

The British star's wife Dwina said this week that the singer's brother, fellow Bee Gee Barry Gibb, had been singing to Robin to try to rouse him.

His three children had also been playing music to him, she said.

The Bee Gees -- twins Robin and the late Maurice Gibb and their elder brother Barry, 65 -- are among the biggest-selling groups of all time.

Robin Gibb had bowel surgery 18 months ago but a tumour was found and he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and the liver.

In February, Gibb said he had made a "spectacular" recovery from his treatment, sparking hopes that his cancer was in remission.

Gibb was too ill to attend last week's premiere of his first classical work, "The Titanic Requiem", composed with his son Robin-John to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking.

Gibb had been due to perform the song "Don't Cry Alone" at the central London premiere. - Agence France Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

MC5 Bassist Michael Davis Dies

Michael Davis, the bassist for the politically-charged proto-punk band MC5, died on Friday of liver failure. He was 68.

Davis had been studying fine art at Wayne State University in Michigan when the Detroit-based MC5 recruited him in 1964. He promptly dropped out of art school to join the band. MC5 were soon taken under the wing of poet John Sinclair, whose affiliation with the radical-leftist anti-racist White Panther Party galvanized the band’s political energies. Kick Out the Jams, the first of the band’s three albums, was released by Elektra Records in 1969.

After MC5 split up in 1972, Davis went on to join the band Destroy All Monsters with Ron Asheton of the Stooges. He would later join MC5 again when they reunited for a tour in 2004. Davis also co-founded the non-profit Music is Revolution Foundation, which supports music education in public schools.

Davis died at the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California after receiving a month-long treatment for liver disease. He is survived by his wife, Angela Davis, as well as three sons and a daughter.

source: rollingstone.com